BE RESPECTFUL & COURTEOUS

We all help this Text Troop community thrive. Please be respectful of others and deliberate with your communication. Talk with one another. Questions are welcome. It’s normal to have disagreements but please be constructive and have empathy when facilitating these conversations. Additionally, please be respectful of other volunteers' time and energy. If you have any personal issues, concerns, etc. that you’d like to talk about please reach out the Text Troop staff. We will do our best to assist you.

ONLINE ETIQUETTE

Treat others online as you would treat them in real life. It’s important to constantly be aware that behind the screen is an actual human being. Help us continue to foster and model an inclusive and dynamic community by treating others as if they were sitting right in front of you. 

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact Text Troop staff immediately. Staff can be identified as they'll be wearing staff badges (S) or are listed as Admins in our Slack.

Volunteers asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If you are unable to resolve a situation peacefully, you will be asked to leave the Text Troop community. If the Administrators determine that a human is violating any part of these Community Guidelines, the Administrators may take any action they deem appropriate within this Slack team, up to and including expulsion and exclusion from the Text Troop Slack.

We will seek to resolve conflicts peacefully and in a manner that is positive for the community. We can’t foresee every situation, and thus if in the Staff’s judgment the best thing to do is to ask a disrespectful individual to leave, we will do so.

APOLOGIZE FOR MISTAKES

Should you catch yourself behaving disrespectfully, or be confronted as such, listen intently, own up to your words and actions, and apologize accordingly. No one is perfect, and even well-intentioned people make mistakes. What matters is how you handle them and that you avoid repeating them in the future.

RESPECT VOLUNTEERS’ PRIVACY

This community is not a public space. However, no one has signed a non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) to participate, and you should not assume anything you say here will remain private, so act accordingly. Please make sure all DMs directed to staff or volunteer leaders are professional and related to programs/organizations.

Do not share screenshots on social media or any other electronic communication. If you want to talk about anything outside of our Slack please keep the identity or affiliation of any participants private. Here are the Chatham House Rules as a general outline.

If you would like to share any original content please ask the individual(s) involved for permission. If you do not receive consent in a reasonable period of time you can credit "Open Progress Text Troop Slack"

ZERO TOLERANCE FOR HATE SPEECH

This community has a zero-tolerance policy towards hate speech and is strictly prohibited. This includes any type of verbal attack on race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, sex, gender, xenophobia (ex: hateful language towards immigrants), gender identity, gender expression, disabilities, veteran status, physical appearance, and diseases.

QUESTIONS ABOUT SENSITIVE TOPICS MUST INCLUDE TRIGGER WARNINGS

If you have questions, concerns, or comments about a text that you received from a voter and it may contain language that could emotionally distress members of our community, please make sure to thread those screenshots so they aren’t the first thing that appears when scrolling through Slack channels.

UNCOMFORTABLE TEXT CONVERSATIONS

If you receive a text conversation that is uncomfortable, please feel free to reassign these conversations under the reassign reason “This conversation makes me uncomfortable” and Text Troop staff will be more than happy to handle those messages, no questions asked. Additionally, if you want, please reach out to Text Troop staff about said conversations and we’d be happy to chat about them even after you’ve reassigned it. We want you to feel safe while you’re saving Democracy!