PLEASE READ: Welcome thread & General site rules.

[POZ Forum Moderators]

Welcome to the Living With HIV Forum!

The Living With HIV forum is open to those who are living with HIV

Our Moderators reserve the right to interpret who is "affected" on a case-by-case basis to preserve the good order of these forums. New forum members living with HIV are expected and will be asked to post an introduction post to introduce themselves to the forum community.

About the POZ Forums

If you are living with HIV, you have come to the right place for support and information. Feel free to ask questions or just come here to vent if that's what you need. Living with HIV can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and no matter what you're going through, there's sure to be a forum member - or twenty! - who can empathise.


Be sure to check out the other sections of POZ. You will find links to various sections across the top of any forum page.

In the Basics section you will find a wealth of information about living with HIV. In the Drugs section you will find every drug used to treat HIV. Don't forget to check out the Blogs, written by fellow forum members. The News section will keep you up to date and you can also sign up for the poz.com weekly newsletter to receive the latest news via your email inbox.

 We hope you find the POZ Forums and website to be your one-stop shop for HIV/AIDS information and support.


(Please read the thread below for Posting Guidelines.)

[POZ Forum Moderators]

General Posting Guidelines & Rules

• Please be courteous to other members. Abusive language or flame-baiting will not be tolerated. Please see Time Out Policy further down in this thread for more information.
  
• Please feel free to voice your opinion. We fully support free speech in these forums as long as you do not become abusive.
  
• New forum members living with HIV should introduce themselves on their first post to the forum community. Let us know how you are getting on, how treatment is going, VL/CD4, how we can help, etc. We are here to support you and each other
  
• All forum members must provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide unless its personal experience being discussed, full URLs or full citations of published works if not available online. My Doctor/Nurse/Pharmacist said XYZ and therefore ... isn't acceptable
  
• All forum members must post information which is true and correct to their knowledge
  
• Please keep your replies on the topic of the thread you are posting in. Going off-topic is considered thread hijacking and is not considered good forum etiquette.  Also note: Please do not post questions about your concerns in another person's thread; this will also be considered hijacking. If you have concerns or questions you wish to discuss, open your own thread.
  
• Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured. Please contact POZ at website@poz.com to learn about all the things POZ can do to help promote your Survey, Study or Research.
  
• The moderators can be contacted by sending them a PM, alternatively, you can email: forums@poz.com
  
• If you have problems with another forum member, you have two options. You can use the Report to Moderator link at the bottom of any post. Two, you can put that forum member on Ignore by using the link that appears at the bottom of the user information next to their post. You can unignore a member by going into your profile and taking them off the ignore list.
  
• In addition to the above posting guidelines, the following forums have additional rules & guidelines Research News & Studies Forum! , How Can I Prevent HIV? , Do I have HIV & Estoy infectado?
  
  
  Time Out Policy
  
  
  The time-out (TO) policy will be acted on at the moderators' discretion.
  
  The "Do I have HIV" forum has a separate Time Out policy However, the posting guidelines, rules & policy outlined here in this thread will also apply to any member of the POZ forums posting in the "Do I have HIV" or any other forum at POZ.
  
  Any warnings will be issued publicly in the thread to a member or members. Only one warning will be issued, if ignored a TO will be given. However, the moderators also reserve the right to go straight to a TO or permanent ban.
  
  A TO will always stand on record. For example, if you have had one TO, your next TO will be counted as your second, no matter how much time has elapsed between the two. Being Timed Out means you can't log into your POZ forum account.
  
  
  • A first TO will result in a 7-day ban (one week).
  • A second TO will result in a 30-day ban (approximately 1 month).
  • A third TO will result in a 90-day ban (approximately 3 months).
  • The 4th and subsequent TOs will result in a 180-day ban (approximately 6 months).
  
  In addition to the General Posting Guidelines & T&Cs, more severe actions that may result in an immediate ban without warning include but are not limited to the following:
  
  
• HIV/AIDS denialists. Any member who posts denialist propaganda -- including direct links to information produced by denialist entities or language encouraging members to research denialism will receive an immediate permanent ban.
  
• Overt marketing of a proven or unproven modality for the treatment of HIV/AIDS will result in an immediate ban. Any marketing of unproven treatments or cures for HIV/AIDS will result in an immediate permanent ban.
  
• Duplicate accounts and sock-puppetry.  Warning first to individuals with an open existing account; an immediate permanent ban issued to individuals who are timed out and attempt to create a second account.
  
• Creating a new account to get around a TO will result in an immediate permanent ban.
  
• Any threatened legal action against the moderators and/or Smart+Strong, or any of the staff at Smart+Strong. Immediate permanent ban.
  
• A physical threat levelled at any forum member. Immediate permanent ban.
  
• Sexual harassment of any member or moderator.  Immediate permanent ban.
  
• Extreme and/or repeated expressions of intolerance (discriminatory) of racial, national, gender, disability, marital status, family status, sexual orientation or religion. Warning for the first offence; immediate permanent ban for subsequent offences.
  
• Abusive language, personal attacks, threats, tolling, and starting threads or posting comments that are designed to provoke an angry response - a practice known as flame-baiting will result in a time-out or permanent ban.
  
• Private Messages (PMs) is a privilege, not a right and the rules for public posts also apply to PMs.
  
• Agenda posting/JAQing/Bad faith questions etc. will result in a permanent ban. Example: Posting a wild (false) accusation or issue in a question format to hide behind the “just asking questions.” defence with the intent to present/spread malicious dis/misinformation or conspiracy theories. Other examples include but are not limited to:  Starting threads with "I read/heard somewhere that ..." / "Someone on X/Reddit/TikTok said ..."  followed by posting wild claims, questions or stories under the defence “just asking questions.” Purposely weaponising Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy to spread false claims:  Meds may have side effects, "insert a wild or unproven statement such as" I've noticed my legs are now shorter or my left testicle fell off, it must be because of the meds.
  
• Threatening or harassing the moderators and/or Smart+Strong, or any of the staff at Smart+Strong will result in an immediate permanent ban or time out.
• If a member has an issue with a moderator's decision/instructions please send a polite PM or use the report to moderator feature, and your concerns will be considered. Arguing or questioning a moderator's decision/instruction in the public forum isn't acceptable and will result in a warning, time-out or ban. Starting threads or sending harassing PMs to question a moderator's decision will result in a warning and the thread will immediately be locked. If a member persists it will result in an immediate permanent ban or time out.
  

Moderator decisions to time out or ban a member of these forums are joint decisions and are thoroughly discussed beforehand. We sincerely hope that warnings, TOs and bans will be exceptional, rare occurrences. We do not want to exclude people from these forums but at the same time, we need to keep this place safe for all.

Finally please use the "Report to moderator" link rather than respond to inappropriate behavior. Moderator reports are strictly confidential and only seen by the moderators. If you wish to have feedback on any report you send, please say so in the report.

Thank you,

The POZ Forum Moderator Team
forums@poz.com