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Whether this is your first time participating in an online community or you're a social media user, these Community Guidelines offer 10 short rules of conduct that help keep the Mayo Clinic Connect community safe, supportive, inclusive, and respectful.

Mayo Clinic Connect is a public website, available to help as many people as possible. See why and how we moderate Connect.

1. Be careful about giving out medical advice
   • Sharing your own experience is fine, but don't tell other members what they should do.
   • See our Disclaimer.
2. Remain respectful at all times.
   • Exercise tolerance and respect toward other participants whose views may differ from your own. Disagreements are fine, but mutual respect is a must.
   • Realize that sarcasm and joking will often be misunderstood.
   • Personal attacks against members or health care providers are not acceptable. Such posts will be removed.
3. Be polite.
   • Do not use obscene or hateful language. Profanity, vulgarity and abusive language are out-of-bounds.
   • Avoid typing in ALL CAPS, as it is considered shouting.
4. No commercial postings, advertisements or solicitations.
   • Postings such as advertisements for your business, get-rich-quick schemes or solicitations for a charity will be removed. Unfortunately, it is impossible to verify the validity of each and every organization that solicits donations; therefore, to protect you from fraud, we must prohibit solicitations for charities.
5. No illegal activity.
   • Do not to use Mayo Clinic Connect for any unlawful purpose.
6. No copyrighted postings.
   • Do not post copyrighted information. Copyrighted material (text or images), private email text and other privileged information may not be posted without prior written permission from the original author.
   • Acknowledge the original source when quoting content from elsewhere.
7. Protect yourself and others.
   • Keep in mind that Connect is a public forum.
   • You are not required to use your full name or real name when posting.
   • Feel free to introduce and talk about yourself. But for your safety and privacy, do not post personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers or any other private information.
   • Do not post personal information of other people.
   • Keep your password confidential. Don’t share it with anyone.
8. Be yourself.
   • Do not impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
9. Follow the rules.
   • By posting to Mayo Clinic Connect, you agree to abide by our Terms of Use.
   • We agree to protect your privacy. See our Privacy Policy.
10. Report misuse.
    • Report any offensive, abusive, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable postings to a Community Moderator by clicking the “Report” icon at the bottom of the abusive message.

If a member posts an error of fact or inappropriate content (as defined in the Terms of Use), the Community Management Team will review the post and use policy criteria to determine whether the posting should: 1. remain posted, 2. remain posted with editorial comment added, or 3. be removed permanently. Where appropriate, the Community Director will contact the member directly and describe the action taken and provide justification.