Community Standards: Chat & Community

AOL's community is a large gathering place where interests are shared and friendships forged through message boards and chat rooms.

We encourage everyone to participate in our community. These standards and guidelines aim to make it easier for you to take part and help provide a better experience for all participants. The Member Agreement, Community Guidelines and other Conditions of Service can be viewed here: AOL Terms and Conditions.

Parents are encouraged to customise their family's online experience, and you can take advantage of AOL's supervised community areas for kids and teens if you are an AOL Access Customer at AOL Keyword: Parental controls.

To make the most of chat, please bear in mind the following:

• Although there are some community areas more suited to a mature audience, AOL does not allow extreme language, explicit sexual references or talk that incites hatred anywhere on the service.
• Please refrain from discussing money-making schemes or advertisements in the chat rooms, on the message boards, or in blogs.
• The AOL community is a great place to meet other people, but please do not use the message boards or chat rooms as a personals service. Visit AOL Dating to post or view personal ads.
• Be aware of what you write on the message boards and in chat rooms and blogs. Distribution of any content (photos, files, etc.) that is sexually explicit or incites hatred against race, culture, religion or sexuality is strictly forbidden.
• You should never impersonate people, whether it is AOL staff, volunteers or anyone else.
• Never try to obtain someone else's account information, passwords, phone number or address.
• Help keep the chat rooms friendly: moderate your language, don't harass or threaten other members, and don't try to disrupt a room with scrolling or continuous sounds.
• Be your own best editor. If you think that someone may find what you say offensive, then it's better left unsaid.
• Have a sense of place. Keep your conversation appropriate for the area you are in and try to stay on topic if you are not in a general discussion chat room or message board.
• Don't break the law. AOL has a zero tolerance policy towards illegal activities taking place on the service and will cooperate with law enforcement as well as take action against your AOL account.

Just as there are unspoken rules that govern how to behave in real-life social gatherings, there are codes of behaviour on the internet called netiquette that are equally important. You should become familiar with these rules of social engagement before becoming involved in AOL's community.

Our moderators are responsible for removing inappropriate message board posts and restricting chat in chat rooms. From time to time they will report members who violate AOL's Conditions of Service in the chat rooms and message boards.

Moderators are supported by a team of volunteer community leaders. They use screen names starting with 'UKLeader', and help to grow vibrant communities and stimulate healthy debate.

Please keep in mind that our community leaders and moderators are not Conditions of Service staff members but regular AOL members and should not be harassed. Although moderators and community leaders can report members for improper behaviour and other COS violations they witness, they are not censors and should not be treated as such.

Please note that all AOL members can report anyone who violates our Conditions of Service by clicking 'Notify AOL' in chat rooms or on message boards. We also encourage the use of the Ignore feature in chat rooms so that you won't have to read any further conversation from a member who may be annoying you.