BCI Community Rules

Please read this to understand what distinguishes the BCI online community ('The Community') from all other online discussion groups. These House Rules are in addition to the BCI’s By-laws and the Code of Conduct for members.

Introduction

A community has a common purpose, interest or background which is maintained by the enthusiasm of the many and the dedication of the few. In this sense, online communities are no different to their face-to-face counterparts.

The best reason to be part of a community is the opportunity to benefit from others by sharing information and experiences. The BCI Community is the responsibility of its registered users and is based on mutual respect between BCI and registered users.


The main communal areas of the site

The Community is designed to encourage a range of enquiries, thoughts and discussions. Each area is characterised by its content, style of exchange and its management.

  • The Blog: The BCI blog expresses the views of thought leaders and influencers in the industry with the aim of sharing experiences and stimulating debate. 
  • Community Groups: BCI groups provide an area for individuals with common goals and interests to discuss and develop their interests and network.
  • News: Our news feeds offer you the opportunity to get the latest news from the profession, tailored to your needs. It also provides you with the opportunity to comment and discuss the stories of the day.
  • Community Directory: This allows members to contact each other directly to discuss and develop their interests and network.

Your rights and responsibilities

By registering on the BCI website you will join an online community and gain access to valuable content. As with all communities, its principles are defined by its owners - the BCI - however, The Community is run and managed by and for its members - you.

The BCI website and The Community are distinguished by three guiding principles, which define your rights and responsibilities:

1. You are who you say you are

With the declaration of one’s real identity there is commitment, greater likelihood that people will be truthful with each other and a stronger chance that relationships formed online will blend into long-lasting "real life" relationships. Therefore, we ask that you do not use aliases or pseudonyms. Although usernames are permitted, no anonymous users will be allowed on the site.

2. You own your own details

You can add or remove your personal details at any time and therefore control who sees what. Your email address is only ever visible to the BCI staff for the specific purpose of communicating with you. It is not possible for any member to ever view or access your email address from the site. The BCI has no rights to the content of your details. Your details can only be used by The Community in the context of communicating with you and as part of aggregated data used for research. For a full explanation of the BCI policy regarding personal information, refer to the Privacy Policy.

3. You own your own words

You retain ownership of the copyright and retain the moral rights in what you create and publish. However, in publishing on The Community you accept the principle of fair use, which means that you grant to the BCI a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to reproduce whatever you publish in any medium for commercial or non-commercial purposes as long as attribution is given. Equally other members can quote your material with an accompanying attribution. Should you not want a particular item to be reproduced you must indicate this explicitly. You are directly responsible for everything you choose to publish, whether you have created it yourself or have sourced it from a third party. If you publish anything that someone else considers defamatory or if the BCI receives a notification that you have published material without the consent of the copyright owner, the BCI will remove your posting immediately. The BCI will inform you and the complainant of the action in person.

Why have house rules?

All communities retain its cohesion through a set of accepted behaviours. These may be viewed as common sense, but with online communities many normal visual and auditory clues are missing. As such we need to be more aware of how our written words might be understood by others. Our House Rules are here to support us and remind us of the most appropriate ways to engage with our fellow members. The aim is to protect anyone who reads or contributes to the community and to help everyone have a rewarding experience. These are the BCI's rules which any one of us can contribute to and enhance. When you engage with the community you are implicitly accepting these House Rules, and any on-going amendments, as part of the BCI's website Terms and Conditions. 


The rules

Please read this to understand what defines acceptable behaviour within the community. Monitoring behaviour can be carried out by any member, as well as the BCI Web Editor and representatives. Responding appropriately to a member who transgresses is carried out by the BCI Web Editor and/or representatives. As a member of The Community and user of its discussions you agree to: 

Style

  1. Not shout at other members by posting in all capital letters
  2. Take care with humour that might work verbally but seems censorious and mean when translated to words on a screen
  3. Present opinions and positions in a tactful and moderate fashion
  4. Consider your use-of-language for those whose first language is not English.

Manners

  1. Exchange ideas in a civil and measured manner and to avoid flames (angry, mean-spirited posts)
  2. Assume goodwill and hold fire on the assumption that most misunderstandings arise from the limitations of the media rather than from negative intent on the part of others
  3. Practice good posting manners and refrain from dominating conversations with endless sequential posts and self-gratifying boasting
  4. Learn to listen to written words and the person behind those words.

Content

  1. Do not post anything that could be interpreted as self-publicity (including spamming, i.e. posting the same or similar message in many discussions), advertising (including pyramid selling and chain letters), selling or soliciting
  2. Do not post anything unlawful for example, sending or posting material that is indecent, racist or defamatory, or harassing and threatening
  3. Do not post anything intended to disrupt or vandalise the service
  4. Do not post any personal details of others, known both in and outside the community
  5. Do not post any material that infringes any third party legal rights for example, copyright or other proprietary rights
  6. Do not post any third party material without permission
  7. Do not post private email anywhere in the community
  8. Find out who else is commenting on the topic and cite them - be generous.

Responsibility

  1. Accept responsibility for all material that you publish in the community
  2. Accept responsibility for a discussion you have started to keep it on topic and to freeze it when it has run its course
  3. Always acknowledge the name of the source of any third-party material legitimately quoted or referred to
  4. Do not quote any member who specifically requests not to be quoted
  5. Do not intentionally misquote another member or a representative of The Community
  6. Do not falsely misrepresent yourself
  7. Do not abuse the facility to send an individual member a personal message
  8. Use the log-out button, especially on a public machine, to minimise intruder access.

Monitoring

  1. Report any transgressions to the BCI Web Editor
  2. Report any misuse of the personal messaging facility to the BCI Web Editor
  3. Do not misuse the channels for complaint. Persistence may result in action by representatives of The Community against your account
  4. Representatives of The Community reserve the right to delete any contribution, or take action against any account, at any time, for any reason.

Further information

To contribute to or comment on these House Rules do email the BCI Web Editor. For a full explanation of the BCI websites policy regarding the personal information collected about you, refer to the Privacy policy.