Group Guidelines

Ipernity allows its members to set up groups and participate in other members' groups. Such groups are virtual rooms in which members meet to discuss topics of common interest and share content. There is the possibility to create private or public groups.

These guidelines apply to public groups. They are intended to make you understand better the different roles you can play and the appropriate behaviours. You are expected to respect them in public groups at all times. Different rules may be agreed in private groups. However, it is advisable to adapt the rules described here.

Group administration

You become a group administrator when you create a group or another administrator appoints you as administrator. You can also be appointed by the website administration (ima team). In public groups you have a certain responsibility.

• Invite others
  A group is a community of convenience that only functions if it has a certain minimum size. Therefore, invite people who might be interested in the subject of your group. First contact those ipernity users you already have contact with. But don't invite everyone, only those you think might be interested. Otherwise you might be intrusive and achieve the opposite effect of your intention.
  
• Give liveliness to your group
  Bring your groups to life by posting yourself the first content and by launching discussion topics yourself. Stay present and active afterwards.
  
• Involve others
  As your groups grow, the work may become too much for you. Then invite other, active group members to help you, to ease your burden. You can give them moderation rights, or appoint them co-administrators. Confer with them regularly and let them know if you plan to pause for a while. A public group should never be without administration for long periods of time. If this occurs, the ima team can install a replacement admin. Alternatively, abandoned groups can be merged with thematically fitting active groups, closed while this is achieved, to be deleted in due course.
  
• Moderate
  The success of any group depends essentially on continuous, good moderation. Give the group members space, respect their views, mediate. This increases the quality, relevance and popularity of your groups. Ensure sufficient presence if you want to review submitted contributions before they become visible to the group. Submitters should not have to wait too long for a decision. (You will find information on moderation below.)
  
• Avoid duplicates
  If there is already a public group on a topic, it is usually no good idea to create an additional one of your own. For external visitors, a fragmented ipernity is unattractive. You'd better join the existing group and enrich it with your content. In this way you help to keep ipernity clear, lively and interesting.
  
• Limit yourself to what is most important to you
  It is not a good idea to administer or moderate more than 20 groups. If you have a lot of time, you might double it. But anything beyond that will eventually overtax you - or the quality will suffer. By then at the latest, the ima team would have to intervene to regulate.
  
• Formulate meaningful titles and clear descriptions
  In this way, ensure that your groups are found when using the search function. Avoid special characters in the title. Formulate short, clear descriptions - at least in the three main languages of ipernity (English, French and German), but preferably in all seven languages.
  
• Public groups are not your property
  By creating public groups, you contribute to the public image of ipernity. Act responsibly. Always keep in mind to serve the overall welfare of ipernity. Formulate the group rules appropriately in accordance with the basic principle of ipernity as a cosmopolitan community in which different cultures and views may have their place. If in doubt, consult with the ima team. If your group doesn't succeed, dissolve it or merge it with a thematically matching group. Help ensure that the overall public perception of ipernity does not appear too fragmented.
  

Group moderation

The purpose of group moderation is to ensure that group members' contributions are in line with the scope of the group and that the specific rules of the group are respected.

• Moderate regularly
  Keep a constant eye on new posts in real time. To avoid discouraging submitters, don't leave inquiries too long without an answer. It also damages ipernity's public image if a group appears neglected.
  
• Moderate respectfully
  As a moderator you may be confronted with the need to delete posts, or to banish participants temporarily or permanently. Do not abuse your authority. Always act politely and appropriately. Never banish a participant without warning beforehand. Give him/her ample opportunity to comment.
  

Group membership

• Respect the specific rules of a group
  Some groups have specific rules established by their administrators. Please respect them when participating in a group. Otherwise the administrators and/or moderators might have to make decisions that could displease you (deletion of non-compliant posts, exclusion from the group). If you are affected, try to understand the reasons by communicating with the administrators or moderators.
  
• Be active
  If you choose to be a member of a group, get involved, too. Share appropriate content with others, start discussions, be present. Whether a group is lively and interesting is also up to you.
  
• Focus your activities
  Think carefully about which groups your content fits into. If there are more than one group on the same topic, your posts will probably find more recognition in the more lively groups than in small peripheral groups.
  
• Keep the group topic in mind at all times
  It's quite easy to stray away from the subject of the group, especially when conversations tend to heat up. Always keep the group topic in mind when contributing, and remind others if necessary.
  
• Respect the rules and the community spirit of ipernity
  Only upload content to public groups for which you personally have copyright. Always consider ipernity's Terms of Service, especially with regard to paragraph 3.4 (impermissible public content). Please be polite and respectful. Always observe ipernity's Guide of Good Conduct.
  
• Last but not least
  Do not promote groups in comments under other people’s photos, especially not with any (animated) graphics. For this purpose there is the function “Suggest a group” in the action menu.
  

Last update: 2019-08-03