Community guidelines

We created Inspire so that everyone would have a safe place to discuss the health and wellness topics that matter to them. Below is a list of things to do and things not to do which describe what it means to be an Inspire member. They describe the culture that members of Inspire foster.

Do's

Take your time and be safe

Please take your time getting started with the site. After signing up, check your privacy settings and make sure that you are sharing your personal information as you would like to. If you see something on the site that's confusing, or find that something isn't working for you, drop us a line. It's most likely not you! We love to hear your feedback - it what helps us to improve Inspire more than anything else.

Meet wonderful people and be yourself

Inspire members are enthusiastic and supportive. We hope that you'll meet many of them. Each group has a running list of new members. Don't hesitate to welcome them to Inspire. And be yourself! Inspire members are an incredibly diverse and interesting group.

Be supportive

Inspire works because we support and care for one another.

Take a deep breath

The Internet makes it easy to forget that we're talking to other human beings. It's also easy to lose context and misunderstand someone's tone. If a member posts something that bothers you, take a deep breath and pause before replying. You're replying to another human. They may be having a bad day or may be upset about something. You may be misconstruing the tone of the member's post. You may simply not see eye-to-eye. Inspire works because we respect each other. It's rare that we need to shut down discussions, but when we do, it's almost always because they became too hot, too quickly. When threads become too hot, a group leader or member of Team Inspire may ask you to take the discussion offline.

Let us know if something is wrong

If you see a member doing something that is contrary to these guidelines, do let us know. We never reveal who reported a problem to us. It's very often members who first bring problems to our attention, because they use Inspire so actively and care so much for their community.

Do not's

These are the obvious rules that are rarely if ever broken, but must be stated for the record.

No obscenity, hate speech or otherwise disrespectful posting

We work hard to keep Inspire a safe and comfortable place for members. Posts that are obscene are not permitted. Posts containing hate speech or remarks that are disrespectful to any race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or member are not permitted, nor are posts that are potentially libelous or not respectful of the privacy of others. A "reasonable person" standard applies and we reserve the right to remove any post or profile that we feel violates this guideline.

No marketing or solicitation

You may not use Inspire for any form of marketing or solicitation. Ultimately moderators are the judges of what constitutes marketing or solicitation. Like other things, we know it when we see it. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: promoting a product, service, company, person, miracle cure, Web site or online support group; soliciting donations for charitable causes or yourself; presenting your resume and/or asking for work; selling Viagra (we have plenty, thanks). DO use Inspire to learn where to go for help and what works and doesn't for other members. That's one of the reasons we're here. Just DON'T use Inspire as a promotional vehicle for a particular form of help, especially one in which you have a personal or financial interest.

No site scraping, e-mail harvesting or spam

Unless you are a recognized search engine - and we both know what is and what isn't - don't run any programs that scrape content from this site. Do not harvest e-mail addresses from the site, and do not send mass messages to members. Do not post any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, or any other form of solicitation. This includes attorneys soliciting malpractice clients. While attorneys are certainly welcome to participate, they are not allowed to market for clients. If you are contacted by an attorney via the site, do let us know by clicking the "Report member" link on the member's profile page.

Don't use Inspire to offer or exchange medication

For legal reasons, no part of Inspire may be used to facilitate the donation, exchange or receipt of medication. If you are interested in donating unused medication to help those in need, you'll need to determine how the laws of your country and locality govern such donations. In the US, many states have programs through which unused medication can be donated for distribution to those in need. Good starting points for learning about the programs available to you are your state's Web site, your physician, and your pharmacist. You're welcome to share information about such programs here, but please do not use this site to engage in the exchange of medication. It is against the law to do so.

Don't use Inspire in other ways that are improper or abusive

We put a great deal of effort into making Inspire a user friendly site where members can find the information and support they need without hassle. To that end, we reserve the right to remove posts and profiles that we feel interfere with the normal operation of the site. This includes repetitive off-topic posting and posts that excessively advance a personal agenda or make it difficult for other members to be heard.

Rules for specific groups

In the Stop Sarcoidosis Support Community, discussions, journal entries and replies related to the "Marshall Protocol" will not be accepted. This includes posts about Dr. Marshall, his findings, Web sites or publications. Any and all such postings will be removed without notification. A detailed explanation is available here.