Southwood Social — Community Code of Conduct

Southwood Social (southwood.social) is the neighborhood's real-time community chat platform. It is replacing the e-mail listserv as our primary way of staying in touch. The spirit of our long-standing listserv guidelines carries over unchanged — only the platform-specific details have been updated.

Introduction

The Southwood Neighborhood Association has a few rules to keep us all on friendly terms, on topic, and to encourage membership and participation. The rules are not intended to stifle or censor discussion; rather they are designed to foster and encourage fact-based discussion without personal attacks. Our rules are patterned after the 1995 "Netiquette Guidelines" and the Austin Neighborhoods Council guidelines. (https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt)

Participants are welcome to post on any matter they think would be relevant to people in the neighborhood. This includes but is not limited to notices on lost pets, requests for help finding a handyman, announcements about upcoming meetings or events, and reports of a recent crime, as well as expressions of an opinion on neighborhood planning or zoning issues. Post in the room that best fits your topic so conversations stay easy to follow.

Please keep in mind that the Southwood Neighborhood Association is not a homeowners association with deed restrictions or uniform standards for landscapes, house color, signage, or other aesthetic preferences. Please be respectful of the preferences of other Southwood residents. The City of Austin has safety regulations concerning the maintenance of property. If you have concerns about safety from what you consider to be poorly maintained property, please dial 311 rather than posting these concerns to Southwood Social. If there is an immediate danger to public safety, feel free to post an alert on Southwood Social and call 911.

Membership

Anyone who lives, owns property, or works within the boundaries of the Southwood neighborhood or the Salem Walk Area Neighbors (SWAN) neighborhood may join Southwood Social. Although SWAN has its own separate neighborhood association, Southwood welcomes its participation in our discussions since, like Southwood, it lies within the area bounded by Stassney – Ben White – Manchaca – S 1st Street, and because the City of Austin has historically treated Southwood and SWAN as a single entity in neighborhood planning matters.

The Southwood NA Executive Committee may add other members at its discretion. Examples of "other members" would be police officers serving the Southwood Neighborhood Association geographical area, and officers of adjacent neighborhood associations.

All prospective members must report their name and address before being approved for membership. Because Southwood Social is invite-only, an administrator will send you a personal invitation link once your membership is confirmed. Please use your real name on your profile so neighbors know who they're talking with.

General Etiquette

Do's

  • Re-read your message before sending to make sure it's courteous, pertinent, and clearly written.

  • Keep discussion focused on issues relevant and germane to the neighborhood.

  • Provide factual information and cite your sources when you can.

  • Share personal opinion — and label it as such.

  • Post in the room that best matches your topic (for example, a general neighborhood room versus a room for events, hobbies, or buy/sell/give-away). This keeps conversations easy to follow for everyone.

  • Use @mentions to get a specific person's attention rather than addressing the whole room when only one person needs to respond.

  • Use reactions (a quick thumbs-up or emoji) instead of posting short "me too" or "thanks" messages, to keep rooms readable.

  • Set your display name to your real name, and feel free to add your street name to your profile.

  • Use the platform's search to check whether a topic is already being discussed before starting a new thread. 

Don'ts

  • Do not flood a room. Avoid posting more than a couple of times on any single topic in a short window — give others a chance to respond.

  • No spam or commercial advertising of any kind.

  • No personal attacks or insults (major infraction).

  • Do not impugn the motives of people you disagree with (major infraction).

  • Keep one-to-one conversations in direct messages, not in shared rooms. If a message is really meant for one person, send it as a DM rather than posting it to the whole room.

  • Do not quote or screenshot another member's private direct message or private conversation without their permission.

  • Do not share another member's contact information or personal details without their consent.

Removal

One major infraction of these guidelines shall result in moderation of your messages for up to six months. Additional infractions shall result in removal from the platform. Two or more moderators will determine whether a violation is "major" and agree to a member's moderation or removal.

Moderators

The number of moderators shall be three. The Officer-at-Large shall automatically be added as a moderator at the beginning of his or her term. The additional two moderators shall be selected by the Officier-at-Large at the beginning of his or her term. Moderators also serve as platform administrators, with the ability to send invitations, manage rooms, and moderate or remove members as described above.

Disclaimer

The views expressed on Southwood Social are assumed to be the views of the author alone, not necessarily those of the Neighborhood, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Members agree to hold Southwood and others harmless for any claims that litigious parties may have against messages posted on the platform or the senders of those messages.

All this said, WELCOME TO THE DIALOGUE!

July 2014 guidelines approved by majority vote at the 9/14/2014 general meeting; adapted for Southwood Social, 2026.