Joining an online community

When you join an online community and a workspace, it is similar to entering the organization's premises for the first time. It is helpful to have guidelines and recommendations on how to adjust and become a community member. Let's start. 

Overview

The goal of this community is to enable work and support to achieve the OSCE's objectives. It is also to develop connections and ties between users, to promote goodwill and awareness and enhance involvement through increased opportunities for engagement.

In order to meet the goals of this community, it’s important for members to feel like they are in a safe place that is populated by people with shared interests. As such, we request that you read and adhere to the guidelines that follow.


Please Do:

  • Treat others online as you would treat them in real life

  • Be tolerant towards others' viewpoints; respectfully disagree when opinions do not align

  • Respect the privacy and personal information of other members

  • Communicate with courtesy and respect

  • Ask questions. One of the key obstacles to effective collaboration is being afraid to ask or communicate your opinion. The online community is the place to ask and express your opinion about work and space's topics. More information = better decisions.
  • Share your ideas about the topics that could improve your community's work. Shared ideas could spark innovations and creativity.
  • Search for your answer before starting a new topic in your space. Chances are someone has had the same problem, and there will be a solution already available.
  • Give to take, and share your knowledge. If you think you may help another member, then we recommend you to post it. If someone has helped you, click 'Like' on their post. A small gesture but it's effective.


Please Do Not:

  • Post personal information. Forum posts are visible to all members and can show up in search results. Protect the privacy of yourself and others.
  • Be inappropriate. That means no obscenity or other explicit posts.
  • Abuse the formatting options. Nobody likes being YELLED AT!!?!? This means, don't overuse: ALL CAPS, Extra-large fonts, and repeated symbols
  • Call out Community Managers and Staff. Good post descriptions will you get your attention much easier.
    • Don't post: “Tiana look here!” – Not OK.
    • Suggested: “@Tiana Sanon what do you think of this?” - OK
  • Petition and boycott. Petitions and boycott discussions do not contribute to a useful and productive forum.
  • Be rude. No matter what your feelings are about other people, communities aren't the place to attack another person.
  • Spam. That means don't post disruptive numbers of messages, memes, gifs and images multiple times.
  • Curse or swear. Don't try to get away with it by using symbols in place of letters, too. We all k*** what you're trying to s**.
  • Bully. Online bullying is against the rules. Bullying will get you banned from the communities and includes personal defamation, naming and shaming, and gossiping about other people.
  • Advertise. For anything: products or items for sale, referral links or advert links/images, blogs, profiles.

Back to the Onboarding Space