Marksbury Village Hall

WhatsApp Policy Guidelines v1 (effective Jan 2019)

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Purpose of the Marksbury Village Hall (MVH) WhatsApp Group:

 

The MVH WhatsApp group has grown rapidly and we now have around 60 members and we want everyone to continue enjoying this great way of communicating.  These helpful guidelines have been developed based on best practice, commonly used by other similar community-based groups.

 

The MVH WhatsApp’s primary purpose is to share news about MVH activities and events as well as those of its representative organisations such as the church, WI etc.  Its secondary purpose is to share fact-based information which we deem to be interesting and relevant to the community such as warning of a road closure, something suspicious happening, an exciting event to be aware of, a lost dog etc.

 

Membership of the Group is generally restricted to residents within the MVH area of benefit.

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Things you should do:

 

• Make it relevant: Write posts that are broadly relevant to the whole group. We also want the group to be positive and helpful.  Please keep posts in line with the primary and secondary purpose of the MVH WhatsApp group (noted above).

• Write only when it’s necessary: Share information with the group but keep to the facts rather than general opinions, interests, emotions etc.  Ask yourself, do I really need to send this message to all 60 members?

• Treat people with respect: Everyone must talk respectfully to other members using plain (standard) English. Please restrict posts between 8am and 9pm unless it is an emergency.

• Value peoples time: Modern lives are very busy and people can’t afford to be continually disturbed by phones pinging! Don’t feel compelled to reply to everything unless maybe it’s a celebration of success or you are adding something genuinely new or useful to the conversation.

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Things you shouldn’t do:

 

• Sharing irrelevant content:

  • Do not post anything outside the primary and secondary purpose of the group (unless you really, really need to).

  • Do not spam / advertise or post any irrelevant messages to the group.

  • No forward messages, no gossip, no greeting messages, no blank emoticons, inspirational / devotional messages, no personal comments or any type of irrelevant posts. (The MVH committee will use discretion to determine if posts are irrelevant).

  • Please avoid chit chat and casual / small talk. 

  • Don’t have 1:1 conversations - take extended conversations off-line - do not keep extending the thread to the irrelevance of the majority.

• Arguing: Please do not argue with group members or use it as a platform to chastise.  Consider whether it would be best to speak to, or message someone directly.

• Don’t be disrespectful / rude: Members should be respectful in what they say.  Do not use bad language, limit jokes / sarcasm (can be received in the wrong way by different individuals) and do not use the site as a means of complaining.

• Don’t go off topic: You can use the platform to showcase something interesting (e.g. not directly related to MVH) however, it should be relevant to the whole community and kept brief. If you have a particular interest topic, feel free to establish your own group.

• Quality not quantity: The art of good communication is to keep it factual, short and to the point.  No long-winded conversations - please think before you post to 75 people who vary in age, sex, gender, ability and availability etc!

 

Personal Opinion: Posts in the group by any member shall be their personal views. MVH committee shall not be liable for any such information provided.

 

Agreement to these guidelines: Your continued presence in the group will mean you agree and abide by these guidelines.  As a last resort, MVH committee will consider removing members without notice if the guidelines are repeatedly broken.