TalkFEED provides a growing number of opportunities for members to interact, ask questions, discuss content we publish, or debate issues more generally. This document covers all aspects of community interaction and moderation on TalkFEED, including topics and replies, comments on classified postings, articles, photos and media and any form of correspondence / interaction made supported by our platform.

There are a few simple guidelines which we expect all users to abide by.

• We welcome debate and dissent, but personal attacks (on members or any individual), persistent trolling and mindless abuse will not be tolerated. The key to positioning and maintaining TalkFEED as an inviting space is to focus on intelligent and mature discussion of topics.
• We will not tolerate posting the contents of any private conversations (Private Message, email or otherwise) or the posting the private information of any individual. Unless the information is already publicly available elsewhere it should not be posted on TalkFEED. We reserve the right to remove such postings.
• We will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such.We recognise the difference between criticising a particular government, organisation, community or belief and attacking people on the basis of their race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age.
• We will not tolerate foul language and swearing. We will not tolerate any swearing or otherwise foul language. Any attempts to such language in a veiled / obscure manner to avoid bad-word filters or moderation will result in a warning / suspension.
• We will not tolerate pornographic or otherwise objectionable material. Follow this simple guideline: if it’s not safe to view in an open office environment then it most likely shouldn’t be posted here. We reserve the right to remove any content deemed to be objectionable.
• We will remove any content that may put TalkFEED in legal jeopardy, such as potentially libellous or defamatory postings, material posted in potential breach of copyright or the encouragement of participation in any illegal activity.
• Respect other people’s views and beliefs and consider your impact on others when making your contribution. We understand that people often feel strongly about issues debated on the site, but we will consider removing any content that others might find extremely offensive or threatening.
• Duplicate accounts are not allowed. With the exception of members who have separate business / brand and personal profiles any member found to use duplicate profiles with the intent to cause trouble, evade negative ratings or troll will receive an immediate permanent suspension.
• We reserve the right to redirect or curtail conversations which descend into flame-wars based on ingrained partisanship or generalisations. We don’t want to stop people discussing topics they are enthusiastic about, but we do ask users to find ways of sharing their views that do not feel divisive, threatening or toxic to others.
• We will remove any posts that are obviously commercial or otherwise spam-like. Our aim is that this site should provide a space for people to interact with our content and each other, and we actively discourage commercial entities passing themselves off as individuals, in order to post advertising material or links.
• Keep it relevant. We know that some conversations can be wide-ranging, but if you post something which is unrelated to the original topic (“off-topic”) then it may be removed, in order to keep the thread on track. This also applies to queries or comments about moderation, which should not be posted as comments.
• Be aware that you may be misunderstood, so try to be clear about what you are saying, and expect that people may understand your contribution differently than you intended. Remember that text isn’t always a great medium for conversation: tone of voice (sarcasm, humour and so on) doesn’t always come across when using words on a screen.
• The platform is ours, but the conversation belongs to everybody. We want this to be a welcoming space for intelligent discussion, and we expect participants to help us achieve this by notifying us of potential problems and helping each other to keep conversations inviting and appropriate. If you spot something problematic in community interaction areas, please report it. When we all take responsibility for maintaining an appropriate and constructive environment, the debate itself is improved and everyone benefits.

In short:

• If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
• Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
• Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.

Warnings and Suspension

We follow 3 strike policy with regards to infringement of any of the above rules:

• 1st offence: Warning
• 2nd offence: 1 week suspension
• 3rd offence (following suspension): Permanent ban

All warnings / suspensions will carry a 30 day life time.
This means that if the 2nd offence occurs within 30 days of receiving the first warning a 1 week suspension will apply.
A repeat offence in the 30 days following the 1 week suspension will result in a permanent ban.

Disclaimer

Due to the real-time nature of discussion forums, it is impossible for us to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. In this regard note that TalkFEED SA.co.za does not actively monitor the contents of and are not responsible for any messages posted.

We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message.
The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of TalkFEED SA.co.za.

Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email or using the “Report” button beneath the post. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.

The moderation team reserve the right to take appropriate action in cases where offences are of a severe nature.