Respect the AltMeds Community

We're asking for the same kind of respect you desire to receive. We mean don't abuse the site. Every community feature, including but not limited to the right to provide content, on AltMeds, involves a certain level of trust. We trust you to be responsible, and thousands of users respect that trust. Please be one of them.

As a member of the AltMeds community you acknowledge that the purpose of AltMeds is to expand the knowledge universe of all manner of things, integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine. This is largely supported by your own experiences and it is those experiences we urge you to share with others. Claims presented that go beyond personal experience account are subject to removal however failure to do so by AltMeds in no way endorses, supports, or validates in any way the submitted content. Any failure on the part of AltMeds to remove such submissions shall not be construed as an endorsement of any kind, type, or nature to you, the user.

Each member of the community is responsible for their own content and AltMeds makes no claim of ownership beyond those outlined in AltMeds "Terms & Conditions" over user submissions. User content submissions are for the sole purpose of sharing with others personal experiences and observations. Using the site, its discussion, comments, or other media posting methods for personal or business promotion of any kind is not permitted and may be removed without notice by AltMeds editorial staff.

Marketing, advertising, and business promotional activities are fully supported via the "Practitioner" and "Vendor / Service Provider" membership options. Should you desire to engage in these practices on AltMeds you may only do so via these membership account types. Violation of these Community Guidelines can result in account closure and removal of all previously submitted content, in AltMeds sole discretion.

Here are some common-sense rules that will help you steer clear of trouble:
AltMeds is all about complementary and alternative medicine and it’s possible roll in our lives. It is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your textual content, images or video, even if it's a video of yourself, don't post it on AltMeds. Also, be advised that we work closely with law enforcement and we report child exploitation. Please read our Safety Tips and stay safe on AltMeds.

Don't post textual content, images or videos showing bad stuff. We believe you know bad stuff when you see it, especially as it relates to the intention of this site. AltMeds is all about complementary and alternative medicine and all user submissions are to be within this global context.

AltMeds is not a shock site. It is an informational and educational complementary and alternative medicine based community site. Don't post gross-out videos of procedures, accidents, dead bodies or similar things intended to shock or disgust.

Respect copyright. Only upload textual content, images or videos that you made or that you are authorized to use. This means don't upload user submissions you didn't make, or use content in your videos that someone else owns the copyright to, such as music tracks, snippets of copyrighted programs, or videos made by other users, without necessary authorizations.

We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity or differing points of view regarding practices or modalities of complementary and alternative medicine).

Things like predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy, revealing other people’s personal information, and inciting others to commit violent acts or to violate the Terms of Use are taken very seriously. Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from AltMeds.

Everyone hates spam. Don’t create misleading descriptions, tags, titles or thumbnails. It's not okay to post large amounts of untargeted, unwanted or repetitive content, including comments and private messages.

Please take these rules seriously and take them to heart. Don't try to look for loopholes or try to lawyer your way around the guidelines - just understand them and try to respect the spirit in which they were created.
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AltMeds staff reviews new content, wiki edits and flagged spam 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines. When they do, we remove them. Sometimes a user submission doesn’t violate our Community Guidelines, but may not be appropriate for everyone. Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination. If your account is terminated, you won’t be allowed to create any new accounts.
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Remember that this is your community! Each and every user of AltMeds makes the site what it is, so don't be afraid to dig in and get involved!

Have fun with the site. There's a lot to see and research here, and lots of users providing new content and sharing their experiences—one of them should be you! The more users share their knowledge the better for all involved. Give a little, get a lot.

Let folks know what you think. Feedback's part of the experience, and when done with respect, can be a great way to make friends, share stories, and make your time on AltMeds richer. So leave comments, participate in discussions, rate products, conditions, treatments, vendors and practitioners. Invest a little time and knowledge and it will reap ever increasing rewards. There's a lot going on and a lot of ways to participate.

You may not like everything you see. Some of the content here may offend you. If you find that it violates our Terms of Use, then click the button that says "Report Spam" under the content you're viewing to submit it for review by AltMeds staff. That's it! Thanks for reading!
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Want a little more insight into the limits and exceptions in the Community Guidelines?

Here are some helpful examples and tips:

Sex and Nudity
Nudity is not allowed. There are exceptions for some educational, documentary and scientific content, but only if that is the sole purpose of the video and it is not gratuitously graphic. For example, a documentary on breast cancer would be appropriate, but posting clips out of context from the documentary might not be.

Hate Speech
"Hate speech" refers to content that promotes hatred against members of a protected group. For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech. Sometimes there is a fine line between what is and what is not considered hate speech. For instance, it is generally okay to criticize a point of view, but not okay to make insulting generalizations about people who may advocate that point of view.

Shocking and Disgusting
The world is a dangerous place. Sometimes people do get hurt and it’s inevitable that these events may be documented. However, it’s not okay to post violent or gory content that’s primarily intended to be shocking, sensational or disrespectful. If an image or video is particularly graphic or disturbing, it should be balanced with additional context and information. For instance, including a clip from a surgical procedure in a video on open heart surgery may be appropriate. However, stringing together unrelated and gruesome clips of other surgical procedures in a video may be considered gratuitous if its purpose is to shock rather than illustrate

Dangerous Illegal Acts
While it might not seem fair to say you can’t show something because of what viewers theoretically might do in response, we draw the line at content that’s intended to incite or encourage dangerous, illegal activities that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death.

Children
User submissions involving children (anyone under the age of 18) are particularly sensitive. Textual content, images or Videos containing children should never be sexually suggestive or violent. Please be cautious when posting something involving a child. If you’re sharing a private moment or home movie, consider it carefully before doing so.

Copyright
When you create something original, you own the copyright for it. Likewise, when other people create content, they may have a copyright to it. As a creative community, it’s essential that everyone on AltMeds respect the copyrights of others. If you’re not sure if something will violate someone’s copyright, the safest thing to do is to create something completely original, with text, images and video you’ve created. If it’s all yours you never have to worry about copyright - you own it.
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