Online Services Terms and Conditions of Use

Eating Disorders Foundation of Victoria (EDV) Online Services

The Eating Disorders online services, and the purposes for which they are intended, are currently as follows:

Recovery Chatroom and Messageboard

The Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) Recovery Chatroom and Messageboard are designed to give people living with an eating disorder the opportunity to communicate with people who are on the same journey.

These forums aim to foster an environment of peer support where users have opportunities to connect with each other, and give and receive support that helps them along their road to recovery.

Care and Share Chatroom and Messageboard

The Care and Share Chatroom and Messageboard are designed to help families, friends, partners and other carers of people with an eating disorder to communicate with each other.
These forums aim to foster an environment of peer support where users have opportunities to share experiences, give and receive support that helps them cope with caring for a loved one with an eating disorder.

This document is divided into two parts: Terms and Conditions of Use, and Guidelines For Conduct within the Online Forums

When you register online, you will be asked to tick a box to indicate that you are16 years old or over; have read and understand the purpose of the EDV Online Services; agree to abide by the following Terms and Conditions of Use; and also agree to read the EDV Online Services Guidelines.

Part 1 - Terms and Conditions of Use

1. You must be 16 years of age or over to use the EDV Online Services.

2. You agree to use the EDV Online Services only for the purposes for which they are intended, as described above.

3. You are specifically prohibited from using EDV Online Services to promote or advertise any goods or services, including specific treatment options and treatment services for eating disorders; and from using the forums to solicit money, housing, shelter, transportation, or similar activities.

4. Every user is allowed to register only one email address and one username. You must register using only your own email address or an email address that you have legal access to. Please note that setting up multiple accounts/and or usernames is misleading and is construed as an abuse of trust. If you need to change your username for any reason, please seek assistance from a Helpline team member edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au.

5. You must not impersonate another community member, administrator, moderator or person.

6. You must not use EDV Online Services to attempt to deliver professional advice, diagnosis, and/or treatment.

7. While using EDV Online Services, you must not disclose or request any contact details, personal information, or information that could identify you or any other person. Personal information includes your full name; identifying information about your home, work or school; email addresses, other online forum details such as msn, facebook, myspace, twitter, other social networking sites, blogs,etc. The EDV Online Services are designed to be anonymous. Developing relationships with other users or moderators outside of the EDV Online Services is not recommended by EDV.

8. The primary role of EDV moderators is to facilitate peer support between users and to ensure the EDV Guidelines are upheld. One-to-one relationships between moderators and users are not allowed. This includes sending personal messages to individual moderators on the Messageboard (with the exception of a Helpline team member), and having personal or professional relationships outside of EDV.

9. On occasion it may happen that an EDV user and an EDV moderator discover that they know each other personally or professionally. If this happens, you must notify a Helpline team member edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au immediately. You must notify a Helpline team member immediately if you believe a moderator is not acting as expected by these Terms and Conditions of Use or the Guidelines.

10. You must not post any material which you know is false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, libellous, offensive, harassing, obscene, pornographic, profane, threatening, abusive, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law.

11. The conversations and posts in EDV Online Services are confidential. You agree not to repeat or copy the conversation or posts for other people. This prohibition includes copying and pasting conversations or posts to other online forums (e.g. Facebook). The conversations and posts in EDV Online Services are for registered EDV users only.

12. You must not post links to any website or document that contains negative and triggering content. EDV does not allow links to sites that encourage others to participate in eating disorder behaviours, that brag about having an eating disorder, that consider having an eating disorder is an achievement or lifestyle, and/or that contain highly triggering content.

13. You must not instigate fights or disharmony, or make any attempt to use the EDV Online Services or information gathered here to cause harm to others.

14. You must not use the EDV Online Services while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

15. EDV does not tolerate racism, sexism, negative commentary against sexual orientation, comments that discriminate on the basis of religion, or any other form of discrimination. While using EDV Online Services, you agree to conduct yourself similarly.

16. You acknowledge that the content of the EDV Online Services is not medical, counselling or professional advice and should not be construed as or relied upon as medical, counselling, or professional advice.

17. You agree that the opinions, statements, ideas, and individualities of others will be respected, even if you are not in agreement with said opinions, statements, ideas or individualities of others.

18. Lurking, harassment, verbal abuse of another user, flooding and flaming will not be tolerated for any reason.

19. Spamming, use of programs such as IRC clients, worms, bots scripts, or Trojan horses will not be tolerated for any reason. Initiation or participation in any such activity will cause you to be banned from using EDV Online Services, and may be cause to report the behaviour to your ISP for termination of account. Be aware that we record the ISP of all visitors and users of the Chat Room.

20. At the sole discretion of the Online Services Coordinator, a person who appears to have a Chat Room Addiction may be banned for an indefinite time from using the Chat Room. Chat Room Addiction is when a person:

- is showing excessive signs of co-dependency when chatting with others.
- is chatting more than a few hours a day.
- is chatting instead of taking care of themselves physically or emotionally.
- is avoiding relationships with others by chatting online.

21. You must not transmit or upload any information, software or other material which violates or infringes upon rights of others, including material which is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or which is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or right holder.

22. You must not transmit any information, software or other material which contains viruses, time bombs, and Trojan horses; cancel bots, worms or other harmful or deleterious components or devices.

23. Users of EDV Online Services should be aware that EDV records the ISP of all visitors and users entering this community.

24. EDV agrees to keep your email address and password confidential. EDV will not sell or in any way pass on your login information and personal details to a third party.

25. EDV may collect, store and use any personal information provided by you through the registration and use of EDV Online Services for the purpose of assisting you to use the services and to provide you with information relevant to EDV.

26. EDV may collect transcripts of online chat sessions and messageboard forums for the purposes of evaluation, research, training and quality assurance. Users will remain anonymous with any subsequent reports not including any identifying information connecting individual users to the transcripts.

27. While considerable care has been taken by EDV in creating and moderating EDV Online Services, all information given by users on the forums should be regarded as opinion only and never as fact. EDV makes no claims regarding the accuracy of material posted - neither static material (information pages) nor dynamic material (posted by community members/users).

To the extent permitted by law: (a) the information contained in EDV Online Services is provided "as is" without any express or implied warranty regarding its accuracy and EDV accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions associated with EDV Online Services (whether negligent or otherwise); and (b) EDV disclaims any duty of care and excludes any liability for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly as a result of you or any other person using or relying on the information contained in EDV Online Services for whatever purpose or whatever manner.

28. EDV has the right to remove from the EDV Online Services any materials that breach these Terms and Conditions of Use and/ or the Guidelines and/or any other material it considers inappropriate.

29. Any user who is found to be in violation of any of the stated rules will be banned. A ban may be temporary or permanent, depending on the circumstances. A banned user may appeal their banning to the Online Services Coordinator. A decision on whether the ban remains in place will be made by the Online Services Coordinator after consideration of all the circumstances involved.

Part 2 - Eating Disorders Victoria Online Services Guidelines

The EDV Online Services Guidelines are designed to ensure that EDV Online Services are safe, supportive, recovery-focused environments. All users and moderators are expected to uphold the Guidelines at all times.

Peer support, not professional advice.

The EDV Online Services are peer-based recovery support. The EDV Online Services are not intended to provide counselling, medical or professional advice. Before acting on any suggestions from any member, it is a good idea to discuss anything you hear in chat with your doctor or other treating professionals.

Personal Responsibility

To ensure that EDV Online Services are a safe and supportive environment for all, it is important to take personal responsibility for both your behaviour and your health and wellbeing. Remember that, as these are Online Services, this means people cannot see you to determine how you are reacting to certain issues or conversations.

If you feel that using an EDV Online Service is having a negative impact on you:

If in a Chatroom, either ask to speak with a moderator privately. The moderator can then invite you into a private Chatroom where you can explain what is happening for you and you can work with the moderator to consider the best way forward.

If you would prefer to leave the Chatroom rather than speak with a moderator, please try to say goodbye to the users and moderators before you leave. When users leave abruptly from the Chatroom, without saying goodbye, it can be distressing to other users who feel they may have said something to upset you. Afterwards, please email a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au) to explain how the Chat is having a negative impact on you. Your email feedback is essential for ongoing learning, improvement, and development of the EDV Online Services.

If you are on a Messageboard, please email a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au) to explain how the Messageboard is having a negative impact on you. Your email feedback is essential for ongoing learning, improvement, and development of the EDV Online Services.

Privacy, Anonymity & Confidentiality

Please remember that it is against the Terms and Conditions of Use to request or provide any personal information or contact details to others in the Chatroom or on the Messageboard. Personal information includes your full name; identifying information about your home, work or school; email addresses, other online forum details such as msn, facebook, myspace, twitter, other social networking sites, blogs,etc.

The EDV Online Services are designed to be anonymous. If someone asks you for any contact or personal information, gently remind them that for the safety of all, the sharing of that information is not allowed in our Chatroom or Messageboard.

Relationships Outside of EDV

Developing relationships with other users outside of the EDV forums is not recommended by EDV. EDV strongly recommends that you always take special care when forming relationships of any kind with anyone you meet on the internet. It can be extremely difficult to ascertain the accuracy of information given by someone over the internet, and you should exercise extreme care in this respect.

Security

If you would like to change your security settings on your EDV online account, please email a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au) with your request. If you ever have any difficulty with a user you have met in the EDV forums (even if the difficulty does not occur at EDV) again please notify a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au).

Confidentiality

The conversations and posts in EDV Online Services are confidential. Many users only reveal information because they feel comfortable with the users in the Chatroom, or are comfortable that the Messageboard is only accessed by registered users. It is against the Terms and Conditions of Use to repeat or copy the conversation or posts for other people. This includes copying and pasting conversations or posts to other online forums (e.g. myspace). The conversation in the Chatroom and posts on the Messageboard are for registered EDV users only.

Confidentiality & Moderation

EDV is a fully moderated service. This means every conversation and post is monitored by EDV moderators. EDV moderators are volunteers and come from a broad range of backgrounds. While all receive training in their voluntary role, EDV moderators are not counsellors. All EDV moderators are supervised by EDV staff. The primary role of EDV moderators is to facilitate peer support between users and to ensure the EDV Guidelines are upheld. One-to-one relationships between moderators and users are not allowed. This includes sending personal messages to individual moderators on the messageboard (with the exception of a Helpline team member), and having personal or professional relationships outside of EDV.

On occasion it may happen that an EDV user and a EDV moderator discover that they know each other personally or professionally. If this happens, please notify a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au) immediately. You should also notify a Helpline team member immediately if you believe a moderator is not acting as expected by these Guidelines.

Chatroom

In the Chatroom, there will always be at least one (but usually two) EDV moderators. The role of the moderators is to ensure that chat is a safe place for all users, and that the conversation is kept within the Guidelines. The moderators are not counsellors. The moderators will offer users support and sometimes guide the direction of chat conversation, but the most valuable support comes from other users.

Messageboard

On the Messageboard, most posts are checked by EDV moderators before they are made visible. This means that when you submit a post, you will not be able to see it straight away. The EDV moderators endeavour to check the Messageboard everyday, but sometimes it may take longer before your post becomes visible.

On the Messageboard there are also a small number of users called Senior Members. These are users who have proven to be responsible, honest, and compassionate users of the Chatroom and Messageboard, and have demonstrated a high level of respect and adherence to these Guidelines. Posts made by Senior Members become visible immediately. Senior Members are also responsible for keeping a watchful eye on posts and chat and for welcoming new users to the Messageboard.

As well as these moderation strategies, we also ask that all users report any conversation that they believe is not in the Guidelines to a Chatroom moderator (you can ask to speak with them privately) or to a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au).

Feedback and Suggestions

The most important ideas to develop and improve the EDV Online Services come from the users. If you have any suggestions for improvements to the EDV Online Services, or have an issue that you think needs to be dealt with, please email a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au). You can also post your feedback and suggestions in the Developers Corner of the relevant Message Board.

Leaving Chat

If you plan to leave your computer, please exit the chat room. If you are absent for more than fifteen (15) minutes, a moderator may log you off. You are always welcome to rejoin the chat at a later time. When you are leaving Chat please try to ensure that you say goodbye to the users and moderators before you leave. When users leave abruptly from the Chatroom, without saying goodbye, it can be distressing to other users who feel they may have said something to upset you.

If something/someone in the chat upsets you or triggers you, feel free to leave and take care of yourself first. However, please don’t leave without logging off.

Caring For Each Other

Open and honest communication is encouraged in EDV Online Services, but always be aware of how your words may impact others who are or who have experienced the same things. The ‘no go’ areas are listed below have been designed to guide your writing to help protect all users. At all times, please be patient and kind with one another and don’t try to tell your story over someone else.

Inappropriate Behaviour

If you believe someone is behaving inappropriately, please either don’t respond at all or respond in a manner that is going to diffuse the situation rather than inflame it. The chat moderators will address the situation to minimise any negative impact on other members. You can also ask to speak with a chat moderator privately or email a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au) if you feel someone is not behaving appropriately.

You may not use the EDV Online Services if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

‘No-Go’ areas for the EDV Chatroom and Messageboard

No numbers

People with an eating disorder are often focused on ‘numbers’. At EDV we believe that sharing of numbers is not necessary for recovery and can hamper users’ progress. Therefore, sharing of any numbers is not allowed. This includes anything related to weight, BMI, calories, kilojoules, measurements, clothing size, desired weight, weight-loss goals, how many days you've gone without eating, how many times you've purged including over-exercising, how many laxatives you’ve taken, what food or drink you have or haven’t eaten, diet information, etc.

No "tips" or "bragging"

EDV is exclusively recovery-focused. We do not condone any sharing of "tips" on how to perpetuate an eating disorder. This includes tips on how to lose weight, how to purge, types of diet pills to buy, or promoting any other self-destructive behaviours that can be a part of having an eating disorder. We also do not allow any type of "bragging" about your behaviours, or bragging about how "good" it is to have an ED.

No suicide notes

Suicidal posts or "goodbye" letters related to suicide are not allowed. Posts of a suicidal nature or that appear to be goodbye letters because a person is contemplating suicide will not be set visible on the Messageboard. If there is any talk of suicide in the Chatroom, a moderator will immediately take the user to a private room. If a member is expressing suicidal thoughts in the Chatroom or Messageboard they will be referred to real-time help from their family members, doctors, or other agencies where they can seek help immediately.

Suicidal thoughts and feelings are always serious and require urgent and immediate attention. IF YOU ARE FEELING SUICIDAL, SEEK IMMEDIATE HELP FROM AN APPROPRIATE SERVICE.

The following services are equipped to deal with suicidal thoughts and feelings and can provide immediate 24-hour help:

1300 651 251 www.suicideline.org.au
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
Police or ambulance: 000
Your GP or local hospital’s emergency department
Check the front page of the phone book for local 24-hour crisis telephone counselling services

No serious medical conditions or questions

If you are experiencing serious physical or medical symptoms (including, but not limited to, dizziness, fainting, chest pains, throwing up blood), you may be in immediate danger, EDV is not the place to seek help. Contact your GP immediately or dial 000 for immediate help.

If you have questions related to medications, please go to your doctor. EDV staff are not able to provide information about medications. If you want to share an experience, or are looking just to relate with another and you are NOT in immediate danger, these types of posts may be okay, but moderators and administrators will evaluate on a post-by-post basis.

No personal attacks

We do not allow any behaviour that is of an aggressive and malicious nature to other members. This includes name-calling, gossiping with other members, and writing personal attacks about other members in the EDV forums or any other place. If you have a personal disagreement with another member, try to resolve it privately, or notify a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au).

No links to negative and triggering websites.

Please do not post any links to websites that may contain negative and triggering content. We do not condone any links that encourage others to participate in eating disordered behaviours, that brag about having an eating disorder, considers having an ED an achievement or lifestyle, and/or that contains highly triggering content.

If you are aware of a website that may be helpful to others, please send a note to a Helpline team member (edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au). If the information on the website is approved as appropriate, reliable and accurate, we will add the link to our links page.

No link can be posted in the Chatroom unless it has been approved by a moderator.

No posts discussing a celebrity that may have an eating disorder

We have had celebrity members in the past & they deserve to seek support here without seeing their own eating disorder discussed so publicly.

No links to personal diary, journal or blog websites.

Please do not post any links to any personal websites as these can contain triggering content. Journals are meant to be private. They are often a helpful tool in your recovery in talking about how you feel – but they are not meant to be a place to share all the gruesome details and methods of your ED, or your calorie intake and weight.

No Swearing

You must not post any material which you know is false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, libellous, offensive, harassing, obscene, pornographic, profane, threatening, abusive, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. This includes swear words and abbreviated swear words.
Posts regarding Self-Injury/Self-Inflicted Violence (SI/SIV - also known as "cutting")
Posts related to SI/SIV should be placed in the Safety Zone- Self Injury forum on the Messageboard. Many people are triggered by these types of posts and that is why there is a forum specifically related to this topic. This way users can make an informed decision as to whether they would like to read about these issues.

Please do not describe any incidents in explicit detail; i.e. do not explain which tools were used to self harm (sharps such as knives), types of drugs, etc.

Please avoid discussing SI/SIV in the public Chatroom. If you need to discuss these issues, ask to speak privately with a moderator.

All other ‘no go’ rules apply here as they do to every area.

Posts regarding Child Abuse or Rape

Posts about these topics should be placed in the Safety Zone – Abuse forum on the Messageboard. Many people are triggered by posts discussing child abuse and rape. There is a forum specifically related to this topic. This way users can make an informed decision as to whether they would like to read about these issues.

Please avoid discussing child abuse and rape in the public Chatroom. If you need to discuss these issues, ask to speak privately with a moderator.

Please do not describe any incidents in explicit detail; i.e. do not go into details of the attack and describe injuries, etc

All other ‘no go’ rules apply here as they do to every area.

Consequences of breaching the guidelines in Chat

If a moderator deems that you have not adhered to the Guidelines in the Chatroom you will be warned privately and your breach will be explained to you. If a more serious breach has occurred or you are continuing to breach the Guidelines you can be gagged (i.e. your conversation is muted so others cannot read it). If you are gagged, a moderator will ask to speak to you in the private room. If the moderator is satisfied you will not breach the Guidelines again, you can return to the public Chatroom. If you continue to breach the Guidelines, you can be expelled from the Chatroom and banned temporarily or permanently from using all EDV Online Services.

Consequences of breaching the Guidelines on the Messageboard

If a moderator deems that you have not adhered to the Guidelines on the Messageboard, they may edit your post to bring it within the Guidelines. An * will appear in place of the edited content. If there is too much content to edit then you will be asked to re-submit your post. You will also receive an email explaining your breach and how to avoid it in future. If you continue to breach the Guidelines you will be banned temporarily or permanently from using all EDV Online Services.

Please note as stated in our Terms and Conditions of use EDV has the right to remove from the EDV Online Services any materials that breach these Terms and Conditions of Use and/ or the Guidelines and/or any other material it considers inappropriate.

Remember, YOU set the scene for the EDV Online Services

The moderators and online coordinator are here to ensure that the Online Services are safe, supportive, recovery-focused environments for us all to connect with others and support each other on our journeys – but these services are primarily about and for YOU, the user. Use them well.

Lastly, please remember the EDV values in all your communications when you use these services: respect, acceptance, understanding, empathy, hope.

Last revision date: Monday, 08 August 2011 15:36