Online Residents Forum - Behavior Policy

Started by BobbyL1 • 8 replies • 256 views

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BobbyL1 (California)
Posts: 27

Posted:

(I apologize if this has already been answered, the search function is broken so I wasn't able to search)

Hi All - our building has an online discussion forum, mainly just to talk about closures, maintenance, questions about policies, etc. If so, does your property has a similar group, do you have rules you post about interactions (e.g. no political posts, nothing obscene, etc)? Did you develop the policy your self or take it off the shelf from somewhere?

After 15 years, we finally had our first political post. Residents are upset, so our board is considering posting rules about the group interactions. I'd love to hear how others currently handle similar situations.

Thanks.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Our administrator just shut down the posts. Usually someone will report it or it catches attention. That is why you pick good administrators. Plus not unlike this site we state keeping clean and respectful.

We had a neighbor who posted how much they hated pets. A cat had gotten in their unfenced yard. It sat on back porch. They posted someone pick up their cat or calling animal control. You can imagine how upset that made people. Their attitude was unreasonable and sat wrong. The administrators stopped that thread. Made it so could not comment. The same person later went on a rant about speed bumps. Again they had to stop comments. After awhile it was getting considered banning them altogether. Free speech does not always apply in some social media forums if what your saying is offensive.

Former HOA President

BobbyL1 (California)
Posts: 27

Posted:

Thanks, Melissa!

DavidG45 (Delaware)
Posts: 994

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By BobbyL1 on 11/03/2022 9:19 PM
(I apologize if this has already been answered, the search function is broken so I wasn't able to search)

Hi All - our building has an online discussion forum, mainly just to talk about closures, maintenance, questions about policies, etc. If so, does your property has a similar group, do you have rules you post about interactions (e.g. no political posts, nothing obscene, etc)? Did you develop the policy your self or take it off the shelf from somewhere?

After 15 years, we finally had our first political post. Residents are upset, so our board is considering posting rules about the group interactions. I'd love to hear how others currently handle similar situations.

Thanks.

We have a FB group and used some of their stock rules: Be kind and courteous, etc. we also state that conversations must be related to the community, and that posts which violate our rules will be removed.

My wife is the admin, and she let everyone know from the start that it was to be a “safe space” without arguments or negativity, and it is exactly that.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Hi Bobby,

On our forum we had similar rules as you described.
We looked at posting rules for many sites and put together the best and simplest parts.

My advice is keep the rules short (nobody is going to read a long list of rules - this site has only three and there are those who don't read them).

Regarding the search function not working, I had a similar issue and discovered it was caused by a setting in my browser.
Unfortunately, I can't recall what the setting was. In my case, the issue was showing as timeout errors going to the search page.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

This is why our attorney said "ix-nay" to social media or anything that allows users to post freely. In addition to squabbles that can poison a community's atmosphere, the association is legally liable for anything that is posted on sites that it owns.(*)

Our attorney's recommendation for association websites included having a robust Terms of Service agreement that is strictly enforced. The Terms will need to be written by a lawyer since its function is to protect the association from liability. In addition, you should talk to association's insurer to make sure you're covered in the event somebody takes offense over something and sues - many associations are underinsured.

(* Forums that allow free posting can collect things like threats, bullying, defamatory claims, copyright violations, photos of minors posted without parents' permission, and even potential Fair Housing violations if members of protected classes are being bullied. If you're going to allow posts by owners, your Terms of Service should prohibit all of the above, and you need a website moderator with the authority to delete offensive posts and even remove owners who repeatedly violate the Terms. Obviously this is time consuming, and can be the source of additional squabbles as yeeted owners holler about "free speech". Hint: the First Amendment protects people from government actions. Private parties, such as HOAs and social media platforms, can and do limit speech.)

BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971

Posted:

Before everyone decided to hop over to Facebook, and long before I actually got involved with the HOA Board, I ran an unofficial listserv for my neighborhood for about 20 years{1}.

I went kind ‘meta’ when I wrote the rules{2}: essentially, it was up to the users to use the listserv however they felt it was needed. The only “rule” I published / enforced was Thou Shalt Not Compromise The Utility Of The Listserv. As Moderator, I also had a rule for me: That Moderation Is Best Which Moderates Least.

I was surprised: just these two rules worked really, really well. I never had to kick anyone off, and even warnings were extremely rare.

In retrospect, it wasn’t just the rules that made it work: a good moderator makes a BIG difference. A good moderator needs to be low-key, rational, and not power-mad{3}. Also: the moderator should be a single person, not a committee.

BillD

{1} Call it 1994-2014. Alas, it never grew to much more than 300 active users, a bit more than half of the neighborhood.
{2} I’d started using the Internet in 1980 and had a lot of experience with discussion groups and rules and how well (or ‘not well’) some of this stuff worked out.
{3} There’s an old saying about “If you want to know a person’s true measure, give them a bit of power and watch what they do with it”. I once had a gig where I was ‘supervising supervisors’ and I can attest to the truth of this: a lot of people simply can’t handle it.

HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA

“You can’t put too much water in a nuclear reactor”

MichaelS56 (Minnesota)
Posts: 859

Posted:

Who is responsible for maintaining this site and the rules you would have implemented?

BobbyL1 (California)
Posts: 27

Posted:

Thanks for your input, everyone.

Michael - That would be me.

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