New site maintenance policies: Thread archival and NSFW

How strict is this? I get that, say, posting a suicide note wouldn't be allowed, but say someone posted a thread in counseling asking for help with self-harm, and said something implying/stating that they'll probably/will self-harm again? What about images of cutting scars, burn marks, or the like? Would they just need to be in spoilers? What if it was an image of a fresh or still bleeding cut?

Someone posting about their issues with self-harm or depression is fine, including indicating that suicidal ideation or self-harm is an on-going problem.

Posting saying they are thinking of imminently committing suicide or self-harm is NOT allowed.

While suicide is not illegal in the U.S. (which is where we have to worry about, since that's the location of our server), and so does not include the legal issues that threats of violence against others entails, there are nonetheless a lot of issues inherent in allowing discussion of imminent or explicit intent to commit suicide and self-harm. It's indicative of serious issues that our Staff and our users are not equipped to handle, and in some cases may be fraudulent and tantamount to trolling (though the desired emotion to evoke is different).

Some of the issues can include:

- Users giving misguided or even harmful armchair advice to people suffering from mental illness, which they are not trained to give.

- Users encouraging individuals to commit acts of self-harm or suicide.

- Users making threats of suicide or self-harm in order to garner attention and sympathy, or to manipulate the user base to perceive them in a certain way.

- Fake suicides in order to hurt members of the community and/or escape a negative reputation associated with an account.

A thread where someone was posting pictures of self-harm would be a difficult area to rule on and would depend largely on the context of the thread. Just posting images of cutting scars or burns would not necessarily be a problem, but there are some issues where we DO have to rule case-by-case and you've landed on one.

As to whether they'd need to be in spoilers, probably not unless they were extremely gory/contained a lot of blood, and once again that would fall into "put it in spoilers only if you think it should be in spoilers, but if you don't and it gets reported, we'll ask you to put it in spoilers".
 
As to whether they'd need to be in spoilers, probably not unless they were extremely gory/contained a lot of blood, and once again that would fall into "put it in spoilers only if you think it should be in spoilers, but if you don't and it gets reported, we'll ask you to put it in spoilers".

Mental Health Care professional advice: due to the nature of this sort of harm, it should not be treated the same as typical injury/gore. The very nature of this sort of injury and discussion is a very volatile one and exposure of such content to such members who are susceptible or unsuspecting of such content can themselves be heavily affected. Images of self-harm, regardless of context, should probably be under a blanket 'spoiler' policy and content determined by staff afterwards whether of an 'appropriate' context proceeding from there.

Ultimately, you can stop reading when you become uncomfortable with a topic or become (I hate this word, but it is fitting) triggered by it. An image, however, is a great deal harder to be selective about if not given fair warning, and tends to evoke a far more powerful reaction.

Just, my honest advice working in this field. >_>

Furthermore, it has not been something the site has done... but I would also like to suggest that staff who encounter individuals discussing self-harm and suicidal ideation:

(1) seek company of a soothing presence and begin a dialogue. Explain to an individual who you are comfortable with and trust and who can help ensure your well-being that you are struggling with self-harm or suicidal ideation. Opening up a dialogue and having a support network can reduce the risk of self-harm and suicide.
(2) schedule an intake and appointment with a local mental health care professional for help. Workin with a mental health team to develop a treatment plan (tailored to your needs and desires, ie, if you are hesitant to be prescribed medication, even just psychotherapy can be utilized and be effective) in order to work towards recovery in which such ideation and urges can be reduced is in your best interests. You are not alone. Struggling with such thoughts is not uncommon as most people of adult age will or have experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lives: don't be ashamed to admit you need help or embarassed to seek it from approprite channels who can assist in your safety and success.
(3) staff can provide a prepared list of free crisis hotlines available to individuals struggling with suicidal ideation and self-harm in order to readily provide access to resources for an individual's safety that they may not seek on their own.
(4) Always treat suicidal threats, discussion and so forth seriously. Reassure in a calm, consistent and non-judgmental manner and stop any and all individuals who would do otherwise from engaging in the situation. Encourage the utilization of 1-3.

Just, ah, a few steps/ideas/etc that I feel are instrumental for handling such topics in a responsible manner that is in-line with CPI and mental-health first aide standards without an individual becoming actively involved and potentially exascerbating the situation due to a lack of professional experience and training.
 
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@Snowball

I was talking more in the terms of older injuries (again, case by case) but that's a valid point. It's certainly not something we encourage in any case because it is a potentially dangerous topic (literally).

As to what we do in response to suicide/self-harm threats, we actually do in fact as Staff have the policy to provide help hotlines and encourage the steps you've covered. That's standard practice.
 
Is disturbing imagery ok? An example would be Leatherface. I mean it's not bloody, but he does have other faces on his face which means many people died and were skinned which could play into this: "Violent death or mortal injury of a human or animal."

Also thoughts on Cenobites which are walking pieces of body horror who wear suits reminiscent of bondage gear? I figure female Pinhead is a no-go because too much skin in the bewb area are society's prevailing taboo, but what about regular old Pinhead? Does iconic figures play into this at all?

Basically curious horror fan is curious. I mean, I can make do with or without, but it's a question I've had for awhile and never got around to asking.
 
Is disturbing imagery ok? An example would be Leatherface. I mean it's not bloody, but he does have other faces on his face which means many people died and were skinned which could play into this: "Violent death or mortal injury of a human or animal."

Also thoughts on Cenobites which are walking pieces of body horror who wear suits reminiscent of bondage gear? I figure female Pinhead is a no-go because too much skin in the bewb area are society's prevailing taboo, but what about regular old Pinhead? Does iconic figures play into this at all?

Basically curious horror fan is curious. I mean, I can make do with or without, but it's a question I've had for awhile and never got around to asking.
Images of Leatherface and Pinhead would be fine as avatars. Images of Leatherface and Pinhead that accentuated the gore (such as Leatherface wearing an obviously, uh, fresh face or Pinhead's pins all oozing blood, for example) would not. The difference is the active gore involved.

For avatars of female Pinhead it would depend on the cropping and/or what outfit she's in, and whether she's posing provocatively. Obviously anything with the strappy outfit that barely covers her nips is not okay.

For posting these kind of images to the forum, it would be up to you to decide whether to put them in spoilers. If you do not put it in spoilers and it gets reported, and is not suitable for an avatar, you will be asked to put it under a spoiler.
 
Images of Leatherface and Pinhead would be fine as avatars. Images of Leatherface and Pinhead that accentuated the gore (such as Leatherface wearing an obviously, uh, fresh face or Pinhead's pins all oozing blood, for example) would not. The difference is the active gore involved.

For avatars of female Pinhead it would depend on the cropping and/or what outfit she's in, and whether she's posing provocatively. Obviously anything with the strappy outfit that barely covers her nips is not okay.

For posting these kind of images to the forum, it would be up to you to decide whether to put them in spoilers. If you do not put it in spoilers and it gets reported, and is not suitable for an avatar, you will be asked to put it under a spoiler.
I thought as much. Thank you for the clarification! :3
 
What's the policy with images in PMs? Do these new guidlines extend to PMs as well?
 
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@TheTechnologicVampire

If the person you're PMing reports it, you still need to put it in a spoiler, yes. So be sure you know what your partner is comfortable with before sending them potentially NSFW images.

All the stuff that is disallowed AT ALL on the forum has always been disallowed, even via PMs. If we find out you're PMing porn, dick pics, or sketchy loli art, you're going to get in trouble.
 
Photo+Sep+11,+2+18+18+PM.jpg

Am I doing it right?