The WhatShouldIReadNext.com Community Guidelines

The WhatShouldIReadNext.com is community is a group of friendly people, coming together from across the globe to share our love of books with each other.

Although we maintain the site, this is a community we build together, and we need your help to make it the best it can be.

Be welcoming and open-minded

We encourage you to be welcoming to new people joining the community. Let’s build a community that we’d want to join.

Respect each other

Nothing sabotages healthy conversation like rudeness. Be civil and professional, and don’t post anything that a reasonable person would consider offensive, abusive, or hate speech. Don’t harass or grief anyone. Treat each other with dignity and consideration in all interactions.

Communicate with empathy

Disagreements or differences of opinion are a fact of life. Being part of a community means interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, many of which may not be your own. If you disagree with someone, try to understand and share their feelings before you address them. This will promote a respectful and friendly atmosphere where people feel comfortable asking questions, participating in discussions, and making contributions.

What if you encounter bad behaviour or are offended by something?

Please contact the community manager who originally invited you into the community, or alternatively, send us a message through this page.

What is not allowed?

We are committed to maintaining a community where users are free to express themselves and challenge one another's ideas. Such discussions, however, are unlikely to foster fruitful dialog when ideas are silenced because community members are being shouted down or are afraid to speak up. That means you should be respectful and civil at all times, and refrain from attacking others. We do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into the following:

Threats of violence

You may not threaten violence towards others or use the site to organize, promote, or incite acts of real-world violence or terrorism. Think carefully about the words you use, the images you post, and how they may be interpreted by others. Even if you mean something as a joke, it might not be received that way. If you think that someone else might interpret the content you post as a threat, or as promoting violence or terrorism, stop.

Hate speech and discrimination

While it is not forbidden to broach topics such as age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation, we do not tolerate speech that attacks a person or group of people on the basis of who they are. Just realize that when approached in an aggressive or insulting manner, these (and other) sensitive topics can make others feel unwelcome, or perhaps even unsafe. While there's always the potential for misunderstandings, we expect our community members to remain respectful and civil when discussing sensitive topics.

Bullying and harassment

We do not tolerate bullying or harassment. This means any habitual badgering or intimidation targeted at a specific person or group of people. In general, if your actions are unwanted and you continue to engage in them, there's a good chance you are headed into bullying or harassment territory.

Business promotion

If you’re an author, you’re very welcome to talk about your books. However this is not a place for people to make money or do business.

Doxxing and invasion of privacy

Don't post other people's personal information, such as phone numbers, private email addresses, physical addresses, credit card numbers, Social Security/National Identity numbers, or passwords. Depending on the context, such as in the case of intimidation or harassment, we may consider other information, such as photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent, to be an invasion of privacy, especially when such material presents a safety risk to the subject.

Sexually obscene content

Don’t post content that is pornographic. We recognize that sexuality is a part of life, art and books, however we do not allow obscene sexual content or content that may involve the exploitation or sexualization of minors.

Gratuitously violent content

Don’t post violent images, text, or other content without reasonable context or warnings.

What happens if someone breaks the rules?

There are a variety of actions that we may take when a user reports inappropriate behavior or content. It usually depends on the exact circumstances of a particular case. We recognize that sometimes people may say or do inappropriate things for any number of reasons. Perhaps they did not realize how their words would be perceived. Or maybe they just let their emotions get the best of them. Of course, sometimes, there are folks who just want to spam or cause trouble.

Each case requires a different approach, and we try to tailor our response to meet the needs of the situation that has been reported. We'll review each abuse report on a case-by-case basis. In each case, we will have a diverse team investigate the content and surrounding facts and respond as appropriate, using these guidelines to guide our decision.

Actions we may take in response to an abuse report include but are not limited to:

• Content Removal
• Account Suspension
• Account Termination

And Most Importantly...

Have a great time!

We hope you make a bunch of lifelong new friends, and discover whole new literary worlds with them.