The Rules

Respect for all other members is the primary rule.

The first rule of Open Diary is respect for all other members. No abuse, name-calling, shaming, or insulting of other members is allowed. As a member of Open Diary, you are required to treat every other member without bias or judgement. Acting in violation of these Rules may lead to the removal of your account, and barring your access to the site.

If somebody on OD posts something that you don’t like or don’t agree with, you can tell them that politely – but if it is something that really offends you, report it to the site moderators and let them handle it. Please remember that what is offensive is not determined by your personal tastes or opinions – just because you disagree with somebody’s viewpoint, that does not make what they are saying offensive.

Open Diary employs human moderators and uses software to help identify bad content, but ultimately we depend on all of our members to respect the community and other people within it. If you violate The Rules as laid out below, your account may be closed or deleted, or you may be banned from using the site.

Note that attacking or insulting other members of the site may result in your diary, account, and/or credit card being banned from the site.

The Details

What you post in your own diary is up to you, within the guidelines laid out below. Please be aware that Open Diary does not allow the following types of behavior on the site:

Access to minors

Open Diary is a service intended for adult audiences. If you are under the age of thirteen, you should not be using Open Diary. When you join the site, you agree that you are not under the age of thirteen, and if you are found to be under that age you will be immediately banned from the site and your account will be closed.

Hate speech

Don’t post content that encourages or condones hate against other people based on their race, age, gender, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic that makes that person unique.

Harassment or Bullying

Don’t post content that targets, bullies, or harasses other people or groups based on any of the above. Name-calling, shaming, or insulting other people (whether they are OD members or not) is not allowed.

Nudity or sexual content

If the picture or video you are about to post is not one you would share with your children, or not one you would see in a PG-13 movie, don’t share it. This includes images or video of nudity involving whole people or body parts, sexual activities, or sexually suggestive content. Exceptions may be made for images of breastfeeding, and images of nudity in art (such as painting or sculpture) are generally allowed.

Promoting violent or abusive behavior

Don’t post anything that encourages others to be violent or abusive towards other people or groups. Promoting or suggesting such behavior among other members or the public is not allowed.

Promoting self-harm

Communities like Open Diary can be great places for people who are challenged to find support, and we want this to be a safe place for those who may have or are suffering from self-mutilation, cutting, eating disorders, or other situations that are harmful to them. Content that promotes or encourages self-harm such as cutting or bulimia is not allowed.

Violating other people’s privacy

Don’t post content that includes personal information such as name, address, phone number, email address, or any other identifying information that belongs to another person. Posting any information that is personal or private to another individual or organization is not allowed.

Impersonation

Don’t impersonate any other real-life people – if you are using the name or image of another person and pretending to be them, this will not be allowed. In addition, do not impersonate other members of the site by purposefully using a name or handle similar to another member.

Spam

Don’t post spam or encourage spammy behavior in entries or notes. We work actively to block spam, for the sake of a better community. Spam includes posting promotional content for your own business or enterprise on other people’s diaries – don’t do it.

Unlawful or illegal activity

Any content promoting or discussing unlawful or illegal activity, promoting illegal groups, or suggesting fraud or other unlawful activity will be removed. We work directly with law enforcement when we believe there is a direct threat to personal or public safety, and such content may be reported.

Copyright infringement

The content you post to Open Diary belongs to you, but only if it was originally created by you. Don’t upload or otherwise use content (including images and video) that were created by somebody else or copyrighted/trademarked by somebody else, unless you have their explicit written permission to do so.

What happens if you break The Rules

We know that misunderstandings happen, and we want every Open Diary member to feel that they can be safe posting in Open Diary and interacting with other members. For this reason, we work on a system of three strikes, so we will only ban or block a user after they have already been warned (unless their offense is particularly bad).

First offense

The first time you violate the Rules, you will receive a warning from the OD staff as a note or private message, telling you what the violation was. The offending content will be removed or made private to you so that it is not visible to others.

Second offense

The second time you violate the Rules, you will receive another warning from the OD staff, telling you what the violation was. The offending content will be removed or made private so that it is not visible to others. If your offenses were in notes you left on other people’s diaries, your noting privileges will be suspended for fourteen days. If your offenses were in content you posted in your diary, your posting privileges will be suspended for fourteen days.

Third offense

On your third offense, your account will be closed and your diary may be removed from the site. No refunds will be given for accounts that are suspended or deleted due to Rules violations.

Remember: all moderator or OD staff decisions are final and cannot be appealed. When you agree to the Open Diary Terms of Service, you are agreeing to abide by the Rules above.