Full Community Guidelines

It’s ok to mention abuse in general terms, as we know it’s important to be able to share difficult experiences that can impact our mental health as part of peer support.  

Our moderators will hide:

• Graphic details describing the abuse or any violence  
• Direct quotes of abusive statements
• Detailed descriptions of sexual abuse and sexual violence
• Any upsetting or disturbing content that describes or implies harm to animals or humans

Side by Side needs to be a safe space for everyone. Abusing or bullying anyone is not allowed.

This includes: 

• Name-calling 
• Threats 
• Insults 
• Intimidation
• Harassment

Any abuse towards specific groups such as religious groups, ages, disabled people, LBGTQIA people, specific sexes or races is strictly against our terms of service. This includes sharing negative opinions or statements about any group of people.

As well as the protected characteristics mentioned above, it’s also important to make sure nothing is posted that makes people with certain experiences feel unaccepted or judged by the community. For example, people who have struggled with addiction. Any stigmatising content will be hidden.

If moderators receive rude or abusive messages, they may not respond, and can ask the core team to get in touch instead.

If a member continues to be abusive or threatening, we may suspend the account. The core team will then get in touch to discuss the future of their account. Abusive behaviour within the community can result in losing access to the service

Promoting products or paid for services is not allowed on Side by Side. We do not want any members to feel pressured into spending while using our service, and cannot verify any links shared to ensure they are not scams or against Mind’s ethical guidelines.

Research projects (university or otherwise) should not be shared as we can’t be sure they are appropriate for our community or in line with Mind’s values, so cannot allow them on our site as this could look like an endorsement.

It’s okay to post links to helpful resources, as long as they’re not advertising services that would require members to pay to access support or content.

Members cannot post about political figures or controversial figures and topics (this includes text and photos/memes).

Controversial figures are people who have been convicted of crimes, or have allegations made against them.

Members cannot post about political groups or cults.

Cults are groups that have dangerous or extreme beliefs.

Moderators will hide posts of any people they know to be controversial. For people we do not know are controversial, we will be led by community flags until the core team can review.

“I think these things have a place but not on mental health peer support platform because it could cause conflict in a place where people should be showing compassion and care” - community member

Defamation is when someone says or writes something that damages another person's reputation. For example, if someone posts a false or misleading statement about a named member of staff at a specific organisation, that could be considered defamation.

If moderators see defamatory statements they will hide them.

We know that not everybody gets on all the time, and sometimes there will be disagreements or arguments between members. Disagreements are okay on Side by Side but they must remain respectful and within the community guidelines.

If disagreements develop into heated arguments that are upsetting and stopping effective peer support from being able to happen, moderators might give feedback to those involved or hide the post.

Moderators will never take sides in an argument, we are neutral and will only take actions based on community guidelines.

It’s okay for members to seek support for their issues around addiction, dependency, or experiences with drugs or alcohol. Posts cannot condone the use of drug or alcohol or promote substance abuse as a coping method.

Posts can include mentions of alcohol, but not details such as amounts consumed. Content about drinking will be hidden if it is promoting misuse or dangerous acts.

Being part of a clinical trial that involves drugs that are otherwise illegal is ok to speak about as it is being done legally and is medically supported. Medical marijuana is ok to mention if it is made clear in the context of the post that it is legally prescribed and it is not being used recreationally.

Members can talk about prescription medication in the context of their personal experience and can include details such as measurements or amounts that have been prescribed.

Selling drugs on Side by Side is strictly not allowed, and will result in having access withdrawn.

We do not allow negative or stigmatising comments to or about people who have drug or alcohol problems – it’s important that Side by Side is a non-judgemental space.

Members shouldn’t give expert opinions or medical advice, even if they’re qualified to do so.

It’s okay to share personal experiences of medication or diagnoses, or to suggest others go and speak to a doctor, but not to suggest treatments or a possible diagnosis to others.

It’s ok to share photos of food so long as the post does not contain specifics around quantities of food consumed, or nutritional details such as amounts of calories. Food posts should not be discouraging of certain types of food or suggest negative associations.

Members can talk about feelings and experiences of eating or exercise disorders, but not to describe behaviours or details:

• Avoid specifics that prompt comparison (calories, exercising as compensatory behaviour i.e., to balance out amounts eaten)  
• Sizes/clothing sizes, weight, BMI, amounts eaten
• Posts or Images which promote eating disorders or disordered body image
• Posts or Images of people or members which are posted with the intention to invite comment on weight
• Methods or descriptions of purging and binging

Diet pills

The use of diet pills cannot be condoned. It is ok to share personal experience or struggles with diet pills. Although some over the counter pills are legal, it’s not ok to describe or promote these pills.

Fasting

It’s okay for members to discuss fasting for religious reasons so long as it does not include details such as tips on how to go without food for longer or benefits of not eating that could encourage others to fast for non-religious reasons.

Weight loss/gain

While it is ok to post about personal experience with weight generally, such as struggling with how a medication you are on is making you gain weight. Content cannot discuss specific sizes or body types in a positive or negative way. For example, it's ok to post:

• “The medication I’m on is making me gain weight”
• “I’ve been so stressed and it’s made me lose weight”
• “I have a job interview but none of my smart clothes fit anymore”

Any content that could make someone feel bad about their size, weight, or body in general will be hidden.

Binging/purging

It's ok to talk about binging or purging, but it's not ok to describe or give details of these behaviours. 

Binge 

It is ok to:

- Use as a word to describe as a symptom of your eating disorder/something you're struggling with

- Talk in relatively neutral personal experience centred terms about it "I feel so much shame after I binge"

It's not ok to:

- Talk about details e.g., quantities of food or descriptive language that could paint a picture of the binging episode

- use shaming language "I am disgusting/revolting/etc because I binged on X" as it could make others feel shame about their eating

Purge

It is ok to 

- Use ok use as a word to describe as a symptom of your eating disorder/something you're struggling with

-  Share personal feelings around struggling with purging behaviour "I really want to purge but trying hard not to"

It's not ok to:

- Talk about specific methods of how you purged

- Promote purging as a solution "Purging makes you feel so much better/cleaner/etc"

“I think cooking and food can be a great source of comfort for people and a good way for them to connect with others” - community member

We ask members not to talk about gambling or share links to gamble sites, unless they are sharing experiences around addiction or seeking support around gambling issues.

Graphic and detailed content is anything that can lead someone to form a mental image that could worsen their mental health.

For example, while “self-harm” is non-specific and doesn’t describe an action, naming specific methods of hurting yourself can form a mental image of that act. This is the kind of content that isn’t safe for members, as it means they can form a mental image.  

When moderators see graphic or detailed content, they will hide the post, comment, or direct message and get in touch to give feedback.

Text and images shared on Side by Side should not contain descriptions, depictions, or details of explicit violence, sadism, cruelty or abuse.

Side by Side can’t host illegal content. This includes activity such as illegal images, illegal use of software, theft, or illegal drug use. 

For example, posts approving of, encouraging or explaining how to perform an illegal activity such as shoplifting will be hidden and a moderator will be in touch.

If Mind staff or moderators become aware of any illegal activity that could cause or has caused serious harm, we will need to break confidentiality and pass information relating to the crime to the police.

Photos can be a great way to share more about your life, but they also need to be within the guidelines.

The sentiment of the written content guidelines all apply, but the following specific guidelines also apply to photos.

Sexual Photos

We ask that members do not post

• Nude or semi-nude photos, including profile pictures (this means photos that are sexual, or provocative. It's ok to post images where semi-nudity is contextually appropriate. For example, an athlete in swimwear or a man on a beach, with no sexual connotations).
• Photos that are degrading or invite members to comment on someone's appearance in a sexual or objectifying way
• Fetish gear - we know some people may wear such items for non-sexual reasons, but where an item has a strong association with sex by the general public, it will be considered against community guidelines.

Violence and Abuse

We ask that members do not post

• Photos which depict violence, suicide methods, or self harm
• Photos of abuse
• Horror themed photos that could be scary or upsetting for member
• Images of weapons unless contextually they are clearly recreational, for instance a bow and arrows for archery, or a photo of people fencing
• Any upsetting or disturbing content that describes or implies harm to animals or humans
• Photos of medical procedures (recently operated body parts)
• Photos where the focus is on scars, casts, plasters, bandages
  

Images of minors

We ask that members do not post

• Images of children which are identifiable- for example, in a school uniform
• Images of children who are not your own/who you do not have consent to share from the parent or guardian. This is in line with the NSPCC guidance > https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/briefings/photography-sharing-images-guidance

Moving images

Moving graphics or GIFs are not allowed as they can be dangerous for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

For this reason, we will ask members not to share moving images on the site or as profile photos. We will need to ask the member to change their profile photo, and we will hide any posts containing these.

Members must not impersonate a member of the Side by Side team (e.g. saying they are a moderator or work for Side by Side or Mind), other community members, celebrities or public figures.

Only one person can use an account on Side by Side. It's not appropriate for several people to share one account, or for accounts to be created on the behalf of someone else.

We have a one account per person policy.

We hide posts that talk about moderators individually or as a team, decisions moderators have made, how we enforce the guidelines, or conversations we’ve had with members. This is because members can sometimes misrepresent what we do, and it can cause speculation, confusion, and mistrust in the community.

Misinformation is when false information is shared and conspiracy is when someone believes in something that there is no proof of, like thinking something is being covered up or lied about.

If moderators see what they believe to be misinformation or conspiracy they will hide the content as a precaution. We have a large community to look after, and only one moderator on at a time, so they will not have time to research and confirm if a post is factually correct. If you believe that a post or comment has been hidden in error, please contact the core team at sidebysideonline@mind.org.uk. If we agree that it’s not misinformation or conspiracy, we can set the post or comment live again.

Opinions as fact is when someone posts their own point of view on something as if it were a fact. If It's ok to share your experiences on Side by Side, but they should not be phrased as if your opinions are factual. For example, it’s ok to say, “I feel that my doctor doesn’t care about me”. It’s not ok to say, “All doctors don’t care about patients”.

If a moderator sees an opinion stated as a fact, they will edit to make it clear that it’s your personal thoughts on the subject and will send a message to let you know privately.

We can only allow posts, comments, and direct messages to be written in English. This is for safety reasons because we are not able to moderate content written in languages that we do not understand. However, we allow very commonly used phrases that most people are familiar with, such as “C’est la vie”.

We ask members not to share or ask others for personal details on the wall or in direct messages, for their own safety, and the safety of other members. This includes: 

• email addresses
• phone numbers
• usernames on other sites
• Profile name being real name (or full name in bio) 
• Home address, work address.  

It is ok to post: 

• Links to creative/art/photography/blog sites
• General meet up spots/locations in communal places.  

Discussion of politics can cause arguments and division in the community, which is unhelpful for a mental health peer support environment. For this reason, all political opinions or statements will be hidden. By political opinions and statements we mean anything sharing views on particular political parties or politicians or sovereigns.

It is OK to talk about general policies that are relevant to mental health and can impact those of us with mental health problems, such as the mental health act.

It’s ok to talk about our personal faith or belief on Side by Side. It's ok to share religious passages and texts.
However, please do not use the site to try to convert others to your religion. This includes encouraging others to join your religion, perform religious practices, or suggesting faith as a solution.

It's not ok to post your personal faith as if it is a fact. Please keep focused on your feelings.

It's not ok to offer support through religious beliefs. For example, it's not ok to say to another member "God will save you".

It's ok to share photos or images of religious figures, however, standard guidelines apply that these images must not contain graphic imagery, for example blood or injuries.

We do not allow faith-based discrimination or disrespectful comments on other’s faiths. 

“I think sharing one’s beliefs is fine but not to be used as advice” - community member

Members can talk generally about scars from injury, accident, self-harm, suicide, violence, or abuse. However, standard community guidelines apply as members cannot describe details of the harm or share graphic descriptions of the wound. This applied to text and photo posts.

It's ok for members to talk about medical procedures. However, members must be mindful not to include details that could be difficult or upsetting for people who may be squeamish.

Members can post about surgery from violence, abuse or unintentional injury in general terms. Again, guidelines apply that sharing graphic description are not ok.

It's ok for members to post in a way that is suggestive of medical treatment from accidental injury.

“I think it’s ok to show self-harm scars… I think the bigger danger is in making people who self harm feel ashamed and unacceptable” - community member

We know it’s important to talk about self-harm as it’s something much of our community have experience of.

It’s ok to talk generally about experiences and feelings of self-harm, but not to describe actions or give details or methods.  

We will hide: 

• Content which details methods of self-harm 
• Content which includes graphic details of self-harm 
• Any image that depicts self-harm 

Sexual Behaviour

Side by Side members can talk generally about sexual issues if they are seeking support for a specific problem.  However, these conversations should be in general terms and not contain graphic detail. This applies to both activity on the wall and direct messages.

We do not allow: 

• Innuendo 
• Flirtation 
• Detailed descriptions of sexual acts or masturbation
• Predatory or pressurised sexual advancements
• Sexually explicit chat 
• Sexual emoticons/emojis 
• Fetish Mining
• Sharing sexual images 

Romantic Relationships

Members are allowed to talk generally about romantic partners that they have off of the site. If your partner also uses the site, please do not bring the romantic elements of your relationship into your use of the site.

We do not allow:

• Using Side by Side as a dating site
• Flirtation
• Romantic posts or messages to other members
• Naming other members that you’re in a relationship with on the site
• Special occasion posts like Valentines Day or anniversary messages to members you’re in a relationship with.

Side by Side is an 18+ community, so we have relaxed the guidelines around swearing.  

Swearing in context as a means of expressing frustration at a situation is allowed, but there are some situations where we might edit or hide content such as:

• Being aimed at another member of the community
• Clearly obscene and likely to offence  
• Having a negative impact on the community  
• Excessive or repetitive swearing

As Side by Side is a mental health community, we know suicidal thoughts and feelings will be an experience many of our community share. For this reason it’s an important topic to be able to talk about, but this needs to be done safely.

We ask that you focus your posts, comments or direct messages on feeling, emotions, thoughts, and general experiences.  

We will hide any unsafe content including:

• Any mention of a specific method of suicide 
• Graphic content includes pictures or posts depicting suicide methods
• Graphic or descriptive words
• Goodbye messages/suicide letters, countdowns/timelines for suicide, or any posts which place undue pressure on the community to keep the member safe
• Excessive/ frequent suicidal posting 
• Posts which blame other members for suicidal thoughts or feelings 
• Posts which glorify or sensationalise suicide
• Emojis that depict suicide methods
• Any pro-suicide attitudes, tips, or websites 

It can be really valuable for members to share support for causes they care about, or that impact their community, family, or humanity. We ask members not to share political or inflammatory opinions, but if they are sharing a general statement of support in a peaceful way, it’s ok to leave.

Supportive statements:

“Free Palestine”

“I Stand with Ukraine”

“Sending love to my family in Israel.”

Not ok:

“I believe the bombing of [x] is right.”

“I hope [x] wins the war”.

“I do not want [x] to win the conflict”.

If you feel that something is inflammatory, or likely to spark debate please raise with the core team to review.

On the main wall:

We hide posts where Side by Side members talk about others within the community in a negative way. This is to prevent people from speculating and to avoid arguments. We also hide posts that share details about others to protect the privacy of other members.

When we say talking about other members, this can mean any post that sounds like it could be about the community, even if no usernames are mentioned. If you are talking about a situation that happened away from Side by Side please make this very clear in your post to avoid confusion.

In direct messages:

We ask members not to talk about other community members in direct messages. This is because we want to create a supportive space for all, and we know that if members use the Direct Messages to chat about others, it can cause worry or concern, and may sometimes spill onto the main wall. If we see members using the DMs to repeatedly discuss other members, we will need to share feedback and may consider withdrawing access.