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Our Courtesies & Rules Members are limited to one Freedom membership per lifetime. Continuing membership is conditioned upon compliance with Courtesies -
SUPPORT - A support group is a two way street of both giving and receiving. There is no support without givers. -
ACKNOWLEDGMENT - It takes time to respond to new member posts and feels great when a post of support is replied to and acknowledged. Simply click on the word Reply in the upper left corner of any message within the thread and a window for replying will open. -
CRISIS POSTING - Post to the group should you ever feel that your recovery is threatened. We take offense to members turning to nicotine before us. Don't head for an ashtray, a pack, a smoker or store. Head for Freedom and share a quick and simple post seeking help. Also, once the crisis has passed be sure to immediately post back so that members are not left with the false impression that the crisis continues. Our thread index page should reflect the true current state of affairs. Please read the "I'M DYING!" thread for additional insight. -
POSTING TO CRISIS POSTS - Crisis threads bring normal group activity to a halt as all attention turns to the crisis. All thread titles calling for immediate group action must reflect current circumstances and cannot be allowed to falsely suggest that a member's crisis still exists when it has already passed. Members must immediately cease posting to any crisis thread once the member posts back indicating that the crisis has passed (see "Bringing negative posts to the top"). -
GIF OR IMAGE SIZE - Many members have very slow computer connection speeds. If the combined size of all the images on a 15 post thread page is too great, opening the page can take minutes and become very discouraging. Please limit the combined size of the images you use within any one thread to about 20,000 bytes. Right click over any image and then click "Properties" to learn its size. Larger gifs can be reduced or resized at free sites such as http://gifworks.com. -
PERSONAL MESSAGES - Please use email for personal "one to one" communications and not the message boards. -
MULTIPLE SAME DAY THREADS - The thread index page (All Message Boards) only holds 50 threads. As long as the topic remains the same (you and your quit) please stay with the same thread. We strongly encourage new arrivals to make their initial post a permanent log and diary that not only allows you to quickly review and assess your recovery progress, but allows Freedom's thousands of members to easily review your progress and render meaningful assistance. -
PARADES - Freedom allows only one new parade per day. All members are encouraged to start parades but it's first-come first-serve so you may need to get up early! All parades must have a theme that remains within the scope of Freedom's Mission Statement. Rules -
RELAPSE PERMANENTLY REVOKES POSTING PRIVILEGES - See Freedom's Relapse Policy. -
MEDICAL ADVICE, MEDICATION, HERB, EXERCISE, OR DIETING RECOMMENDATIONS - Members are not permitted to render advice or make recommendations on these topics. If you have specific health concerns, medication or herb questions, or need exercise or dieting assistance, please seek the assistance of qualified professionals. Freedom is a nicotine cessation forum staffed entirely by cessation educators who are not physicians, pharmacists or dietitians. -
HURT FEELINGS - MEMBER ATTACKS - Words on a screen are not always received in the same spirit and tone as intended. Most of us are not professional writers or skilled communicators. If you ever feel hurt by a post please give the sender the courtesy of receiving an email and not a public attack. -
OPINION DEBATES - Freedom is a nicotine free Cold Turkey support group. We know who we are! The message board is for giving and receiving support. It is not a place to engage in debate over Freedom's approach to cessation, to attack or vilify those within the tobacco or pharmaceutical industry, or to debate our tough love approach to relapse, the merits of specific tobacco control measures, or any other topic that does not support nicotine cessation or prevention. -
PROFANITY - Freedom is a family channel with teens and children around the world being encouraged to visit and learn what nicotine dependency is all about. Neither profanity nor implied profanity (missing letters) will be permitted. In marketing Freedom as a youth dependency teaching tool our definition of profanity is rather broad. Generally, if you would question or hesitate using the word while addressing a large group of ten-year-olds then we'd ask that you refrain from using it at Freedom. -
PERSONAL ISSUES - If any member ever feels that their quit is threatened by a factual situation then feel free to share the basic facts in your request for help. Unnecessary posting of detailed personal issues that involve controversial lifestyle choices or that express personal opinions on such issues as religion, gambling, drinking, drug use, premarital or extramarital affairs, sexual orientation, sex, gun control, child rearing problems, caring for the elderly, politics, and a host of other real life issues, do nothing to promote Freedom's mission and are not appropriate. Such real life issues exist for all of Freedom's members and no one should ever feel that their inability to air such issues will in any way impede his or her ability to stay nicotine free. -
GENERAL SOCIALIZATION - Freedom's message boards are reserved for giving and receiving nicotine cessation support and not for general socialization. There are thousands of fun MSN and AOL sites and each has a link that allows you to send invitations to your friends, requesting that they join you. Freedom is not a place to celebrate the birthdays of our thousands of members or to celebrate hundreds of national or religious holidays. Please help us keep Freedom a serious and supportive classroom that helps save and extend human lives. -
SOLICITING, SPAMMING OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROGRAMS, TAPES, BOOKS OR PRODUCTS - Even though often well intended, these practices are prohibited. Freedom is free, with no purchase necessary and no product recommendations. We ask that members refrain from mentioning product brand names. -
USING OFFSITE LINKS OR POSTING ANY CONTENT FROM OTHER SITES - Links between threads, to WhyQuit, Joel's Library or Ask Joel are encouraged but all external links or copying of any content from web pages of others, including health information, news stories or studies, must first be cleared through any one of the managers, whose email addresses are provided below. In posting any approved materials, a link to the material's original source and any copyright information must always be included. -
VIOLATIONS - Violation of the forum's Courtesies and Rules may result in permanent loss of membership and posting privileges. NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF, DIP OR CHEW! Please contact us with any questions or concerns: managers@whyquit.com Freedom's Staff Copyright 1999 - 2008 Freedom from Tobacco Page last updated 01/08 by ssh |
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