Moderators' Guidelines
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InvestorsHub Guidelines for Moderators
Effective 7/15/2023. Last update 01/03/2024. Changes highlighted below.
Below are guidelines for Moderators on stock specific boards about what should be considered when reviewing posts. Remember that we promote inclusion over exclusion.
IN ALL CASES, WHEN IN DOUBT YOU CAN FILE A TOS REPORT OR CONTACT ADMIN VIA PM.
Personal Attack
- Posts that talk about people’s religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability aren’t welcome here and should be removed. Offensive language about anyone should be removed. "Offensive language" are terms labeled as such by authorities such as Merriam Webster. Examples of this are "squaw" or "retard". The official definition is labeled "offensive."
- Keep in mind that most stock boards are controversial. There will be disagreements and sometimes these may get heated or passionate. When it breaks down even further to simple mud-slinging between a few, please be sure to remove both sides of the bickering.
- Gratuitous or constant attacks on other Members are grounds for post removal. Any attacks about other member’s personal should be removed. “Personal” as being used here means: “of or concerning one's private life, relationships, and health”.
Spam
- If you see a repeated post from the same User that is basically one liners or noise, this may be considered spam. Please report the post to Admin to decide.
- You can remove posts that are behind paywalls or that need a registration. People can share the substantive content (i.e., not a link) from restricted access sites as long as the content complies with the rules of this site.
- Posts promoting other sites (including a User’s own) i.e. “Go to xxxx.com to discuss further” can be removed.
Off-Topic
- Any posts about a minor should be removed.
- Disparaging posts about Moderators regarding their moderator activities (removals/restorations, etc.) can be removed.
- Political and religious posts almost always derail the whole board. General greetings or phrases (“Merry Christmas”, “Happy Hanukkah”, etc.) are friendly and build the board’s camaraderie. These are fine.
- Similarly, general non-partisan comments about things happening in the government are generally informative and helpful. “A bill has been introduced in Congress <that may affect this stock>” is acceptable. “Those <insert party> in Congress should be thrown out of office” is partisan and should be avoided.
- Please report to Admin any posts that you feel go beyond these generalities.
Vulgarity
- The "PG13" standard is loosely used as a guideline to what is/isn't acceptable when determining whether a comment is vulgar. If society has deemed it appropriate for a 13 year old to hear, it is unlikely that it will be offensive to the majority of Users. It should be noted that PG13 does include some use of the “f” word. We understand that this is ambiguous so please report any posts that you feel cross the line.
- Feel free to remove vulgarity or racial, ethnic or homophobic slurs about other Users.
- Feel free to remove posts with nude images or scantily clad photos.
Violation of Privacy
- Please remove any attempted doxing. It doesn’t matter if the supposition is right or not, the intent is to share private information about another User. Please also alert Admin if you see this occur.
- As well, information received via Private Message posted publicly should be removed unless it can be verified that the original author provided their consent.
Threats
- Threats or insinuations of violence or physical harm against anyone is taken very seriously. Please immediately remove the post and alert Admin.
Duplicate
- We all make mistakes and sometimes hit “enter” more than once or there’s some internet glitch. Feel free to delete these when they are posted back-to-back. A duplication is not information that other Users have also posted or that the same user may have posted previously.
Author Asked to Remove
- Feel free to remove up to two posts for a User as Author Request when explicitly asked by the Author to do so. You can also remove blank messages as Author Request after their 15 minute editing window has expired.
- Users need to contact Admin for any Author Request removals for posts over 48 hours old.
Below are our zero-tolerance rules. Violations can lead to severe administrative sanctions up to and including account termination.
These rules apply to all boards, not just the Stock Specific Boards.
- Threats of physical violence or harm or wishing harm on others has no place here. Don’t offer to meet someone to “settle” a difference of opinion, and don’t wish a pox upon them or their house. It’s juvenile and unwelcome.
- Violations of Privacy
- Don’t try to dox people in any way. It doesn’t matter if your supposition is right or not, you’re still trying to expose personal information about someone else. You wouldn’t want people doing that to you. Don’t do it to other people, unless they have publicly self-revealed their identity here.
- Do not post personal telephone numbers or residence addresses unless that information is readily available in relevant, publicly accessible government or business records.
- Do not post or discuss the content of Private Messages without the author’s prior consent.
- No discussion of minors. Nothing within the realm of investing in the public equity markets requires discussion of minor children. Don’t do it.
- No racial or ethnic slurs.
- No solicitations. You cannot advertise or solicit anything (other than feedback) in your posts. That includes but is not limited to links to crowdfunding sites.
The Fine Print
- InvestorsHub Terms of Service
- Link to FAQ
