Gynecomastia.org Forum Policies For All Members

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Gynecomastia.org Forum Policies

The Gynecomastia.org forum provides a safe and supportive place for discussions by and with all who have a connection to gynecomastia: this includes men who have or have had the condition, their friends and family, and treatment professionals. We provide a place to ask questions, share experiences, and (for those who are qualified) to provide information. However, specific medical advice can only be provided to you by your doctor acting in his or her professional capacity.

Common Sense Rules

The policies delineated below are meant to expand upon these common sense rules: Messages posted to Gynecomastia.org must be civil and courteous; they must not contain abusive or offensive language or personal attacks; they must not expose Gynecomastia.org to libel suits or other legal actions. We do not tolerate spam- which can include self-promotion, advertisements cloaked as ordinary member recommendations, or promotion of medically questionable products and services. We can't anticipate every way it’s possible to violate the spirit of our rules while ostensibly following the letter of the written policies. Hence, our moderators and administrators will apply the overarching guideline “Common Sense and Courtesy Rule”.

Gynecomastia.org policies

POLICY 101
Constructive discussion is encouraged whether positive or negative. Proper decorum and use of language must be maintained at gynecomastia.org. If it’s not, the post can be modified or deleted; the offender warned; and if repeated, the offender can be banned from further participation in gynecomastia.org.

POLICY 102
We encourage dialogue and photos, to provide a better understanding of the subjects. Links are not allowed. The constant promotion, advertising, and reference to doctors' websites is an improper commercialization of our discussion forum.

POLICY 103
A banned physician, clinic, or participant has violated the code of ethics of gynecomastia.org and has lost the privilege to participate. There is no right to participate- it is a privilege.

POLICY 104
Physician participation is greatly encouraged- especially in the ‘ask a doctor’ section.  This has reaped great rewards for participants.  Links to outside web sites within the body of a post are not allowed.  This has been abused. Our goal is to have widespread participation in the forum to encourage broad use of gynecomastia.org and all it has to offer.  Doctors are allowed to have a phone number and link to their web site in their signature lines only. Physician pre- and post-op photos can be displayed in their own galleries but not in the forum or in other communication on the site.

POLICY 105
Gynecomastia.org will earnestly attempt to explain the actions of its administrators and moderators. If this is not forthcoming quickly, please be patient: resources are limited.
Do not hesitate to ask again but realize this is our final answer.  Our decisions are geared to the masses and not individuals.

POLICY 106
Multiple accounts are not allowed.  One is more than adequate for the forum and there is no need to have others.

POLICY 107
Fraudulent posts are grounds for removal from the site. This includes physicians or clinics posting under assumed or fake names.

POLICY 108
A physician or clinic is not allowed to post a patient experience from the physician’s or clinic's IP  address.  Posts of patient experiences must be discrete and authentic.

POLICY 109
Physicians may not link back to external links posted in gynecomastia.org before the link ban was instituted.  This practice is contrary to the spirit of our polices and is not allowed.

POLICY 110
No trolls. Wikipedia defines forum trolls as "users that repeatedly and deliberately breach the netiquette of an established online community, posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to bait or excite users into responding or to test the forum rules and policies, and with that the patience of the forum staff."  Trolls will have their posts edited or deleted, and can and will have their accounts banned at the discretion of the moderators and administrators.

POLICY 111
The forum rules must be honored in spirit. Finding and using a loophole in the wording of our policies, or in the technical measures we use to enforce them, can and will lead to being moderated or banned.