Introduction
At Micro.blog, we believe there needs to be a line between the social network and the content on your own site. Your website is your own, where you have the freedom to write about whatever you want, but a service like Micro.blog has a responsibility to build a safe community for its users.
Welcoming users
Joining a new platform can be overwhelming. If you see someone new in a reply or in Discover, a short reply welcoming them to Micro.blog can go a long way to helping them feel like they belong.
Diversity in Micro.blog makes the platform better, opening our eyes to new perspectives from people who may have different backgrounds than we do. Be respectful when disagreeing with someone on a sensitive subject. Be mindful of conversations that appear to get more divisive instead of more inclusive.
LGBTQ+ and marginalized communities who haven’t felt at home on larger platforms may especially be looking for a new, welcoming place. Micro.blog should be a safe place for everyone — a dedicated blog at your own website, and a community space without harassment. Everyone deserves to live authentically, free from fear or discrimination, regardless of who they love or how they identify. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.
Replies in the Micro.blog timeline
The primary focus of the community guidelines will be replies posted to other Micro.blog users. Many great friendships and interesting conversations can start as an @-reply. We are committed to making Micro.blog a place where these interactions can happen. Unfortunately, abuse and harassment frequently come in the form of an @-reply from someone you don’t follow.
- To combat this type of abuse and harassment, Micro.blog can help filter replies out of your timeline. Potentially harmful replies to you that are flagged will be separated from your regular mentions. You can also mute any user to hide their posts.
- We may also curate replies to protect users when emerging problems are not automatically flagged. Replies and mentions will be subject to the basic community guidelines below. We will remove unsolicited posts that are intended to spam or harass Micro.blog users. We review all posts that are reported by other users.
- Muting and blocking. You can mute or block any user if you no longer want to interact with them, but their replies to you don’t necessarily need to be escalated as a community guidelines violation. Blocked users will not see your posts in the timeline either, but can still see your posts if they visit your blog directly.
- If you are being harassed on Micro.blog, or if you notice someone else being harassed, please contact community@micro.blog. There is also a “report user” option in the “…” menu on the user’s profile page. This will automatically send a report to us. We will follow up with you if we need additional details. The Micro.blog team will keep the names of those who report harassment confidential.
Please refrain from calling out suspected community violations on the timeline itself. It can be interpreted as harassment, an attempt to silence another microblogger by threatening to report them.
Content in posts
The community guidelines also apply to content that appears on Micro.blog. Our mission is to foster a community that values respect and open communication in an atmosphere that is free of abuse or intimidation. Blog content hosted by Micro.blog will be subject to the guidelines below.
The following will not be tolerated in @-replies or in posts (including photos) that appear on Micro.blog.
- Hate speech: Content that attacks other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. We will not host microblogs that disparage or incite harm towards others on the basis of these categories.
- Threats of violence: You may not threaten violence towards others or use the platform to organize, promote, or incite acts of real-world violence or terrorism.
- Harassment: Repeatedly targeting other people with unwanted @-reply messages.
- Posting private information: You may not publish or post other people’s private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address, or Social Security / National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission. In addition, you may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.
- Illegal activities: You may not use our service for any unlawful purposes or in furtherance of illegal activities. Do not post content that will cause harm to other people. Child sexual abuse material will be reported. International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
Misinformation
Micro.blog is designed to prevent the viral spread of content. We want to encourage a slower, more thoughtful timeline with less emphasis on engagement from likes, popular posts, and instant reposting.
Do not purposefully spread fake or misleading content intended to confuse or influence others on Micro.blog. Posts with misinformation may be labelled by Micro.blog with notes in the timeline to provide context.
Do not post deepfakes without a clear disclaimer that they are fake. AI-generated content may be tagged by Micro.blog in the timeline to provide context.
Accidents happen, and we all might occasionally share something that later turns out to be less accurate than we thought. Be patient with others and assume good intentions, but also do not hesitate to report potentially harmful posts and replies. While reviewing content, we may hide replies in the timeline if a conversation has become divisive or harmful.
Spam policy
Micro.blog is a service for individuals to share their writing and other creative endeavors. Organizations can also use Micro.blog to share news and information about their products, programs and services.
Unfortunately, the internet has become a place where entities, whether individuals or organizations, have taken advantage of the internet’s vast reach and inexpensive communications to automate account creation and posting in order to gain search engine placement for their product’s keywords. This kind of spam is a drain on Micro.blog’s resources. Its purveyors exploit an open system and a free account option that is intended for individuals who want to blog.
To protect our service from those who would use it for unscrupulous commercial gain, we delete spam accounts with a five-day warning via email.
Here are the things we consider to be spam:
- Building backlinks and publishing SEO-optimized articles that don’t offer any real value.
- Repeatedly posting the same content.
- Posting large amounts of AI-generated content.
- Certain types of businesses in particular will be flagged for spam: escort services, bitcoin trading, casinos and gaming, multi-level marketing, medical treatments, and prescriptions. This list of examples is not all-inclusive.
- Contacting people on Micro.blog for commercial purposes without their consent.
Micro.blog has blocked search engine crawlers for free accounts, so there is no value in opening an account for pure SEO purposes. Credit cards may also be required in order to enable posting.
Hosting spam accounts is the antithesis of our mission. We will shut down such accounts when they are created or reported. If you receive an email notice from us that your account will be deleted for spamming our platform, you can appeal that decision by responding to the notice.
What happens if someone violates these guidelines
We recognize that the circumstances under which a violation has occurred will vary, and we will tailor our response to the situation that has been reported. We’ll review each abuse report on a case-by-case basis. In each case, the actions that we will take include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A warning to discontinue behavior that violates the guidelines, with specific details on how the guidelines have been violated. Repeated warnings will lead to blocking and removal from Micro.blog.
- Posting to Micro.blog-hosted sites will be temporarily or permanently disabled.
- Specific posts will be blocked from Micro.blog.
- Mentions will be hidden from the default timeline for a user.
- Micro.blog account will be deleted. You will receive a five-day warning email during which you won’t be able to post. You can reply to the email if you think your account has been incorrectly flagged.
Thanks for helping us encourage a safe and welcoming community on Micro.blog. We’ll update these guidelines as needed.