Facebook Rules for Users, Administrators and Moderators

Dear Friends,

Our social media channels and our website present an impression of this D.A. to all who visit us online. We are all responsible for what they think of us after their visit and whether they think we are people they would like to camp with or not so our website and Facebook content really matter to our success as a D.A. If we do not agree on any issue, we have to conduct ourselves appropriately when in public view as is the case for any organisation. This document defines our online rules and the consequences of not following them.

References

1. The Club defines its mandatory rules in Green Papers which it publishes for members only. Green Paper 5.2 has the relevant rules for this, please see https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/membership/your-club/voluntary-officers-area/green-papers.
2. The Club has a Facebook Community and in November 2016 it published a set of rules that can be found at https://www.facebook.com/thefriendlyclub/notes/. As we are part of the Club, we embrace all of these rules in this D.A.

Social Media Rules for Member Content

Moderation will always be subjective but the Committee will try to be fair whilst protecting the D.A.’s reputation. The rules in the references above and as augmented here will be applied in full from now on. A subset of the full rules are summarised below:

1. Please treat other people with respect and remember that something you intend as a joke or feel is harmless can be easily misconstrued. [Source: Ref 2]
2. Please avoid potentially defamatory comments (we take defamatory to mean “damaging the good reputation of someone; slanderous or libellous”). [Source: Ref 2]
3. Please avoid overly negative comments and ideally all negative comments. [Source: Ref 2]
4. Any comments regarding a specific, individual complaint will be removed. We will investigate the complaint and contact you privately if we can in order to work towards a resolution. Please use our complaints procedure below instead. [Source: Ref 2]
5. Pay particular attention to the way you express yourself and do not do so aggressively or with abusive or threatening language. Such behaviour can be misconstrued as bullying which will not be tolerated. [Source: Ref 2 + D.A. Committee]

Moderation Rules – The Consequences of Rule Breaches

The Committee is responsible for what goes on in the eyes of the Club so it will retain sole control over the website and social media channels (except to give administrative control to Region to implement Green Paper 5.2 requirements). The current Committee will act as necessary to improve the reputation of the D.A. online. We will use moderators in favour of administrators to do this. The group owner, administrators and moderators will all have to agree to these rules and consequences if they wish to remain in the role.

1. For very minor infringements, judge if the post needs removing. Take advice if needed. Consider offering friendly advice only.
2. For minor to medium infringements, remove the post and report the incident to the Committee to log. Warn them privately that they will be muted for a week if they do this again. If a second warning has been issued, mute them for a week.
3. For medium to major infringements or after 3 warnings have been issued, remove the post and report the incident to the Committee for assessment. Remove them from the Group unless it is considered that a final warning is more appropriate.
4. Treat (a) social media complaints about the Committee or any person (b) anything bringing the D.A., Region or Club into disrepute (c) bullying or aggressiveness, as major infringements. If this is a first offence, consider treating it as a medium infringement.

The Committee’s decision on these matters is final but you may complain to us or Region if you feel you have been treated unfairly. We consider that everyone has been warned in this document. If you not understand any of it, get in touch via the website. We will assume you understand and fully accept these rules and are happy to be bound by them. If you are not happy with them, please do not contribute to our social media channels or website as these rules will still apply to you in full. This document may change at any time.

Complaints

Please see our complaints procedure on the website: https://www.glosda.org/complaints/.

Version 1.1, 20/6/18