Code of Conduct

The Club MacStories+ Discord server is a place to discuss all things Apple in a friendly, respectful way. The Code of Conduct is here to ensure a shared understanding of what we believe creates a safe, kind, and supportive community.

Why do we have a Code of Conduct?

We are committed to creating a safe, kind, and supportive community for all regardless of age, ability, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexuality, or other characteristics. The Code of Conduct serves to standardize the behavior that promotes a positive experience for people with different social values, communication styles and from different backgrounds, provides a mechanism for resolving conflicts in the community when they arise, and promotes inclusivity for a diverse membership.

The Discord server is reserved for Club MacStories+ members; if you are accessing the server by some other means we reserve the right to remove you.

Where does the Code of Conduct apply?

If you are a Club MacStories+ member, the Code of Conduct applies to the online Club MacStories+ Discord community server. You are expected to adopt this Code of Conduct at any time you are engaging in official or unofficial MacStories or Club MacStories+ community activities.

Our community values

• Be kind, respectful, and positive

A little kindness goes a long way to making everyone’s day better. This is not the place to settle scores or vanquish foes. It’s a place to get to know others who share your interests and learn something in the process. We don’t expect members to always agree with one another, but we expect everyone to treat each other with respect. Let’s keep things positive.

• Be thoughtful and constructive

We all have strong opinions and ideas about the things we enjoy and care about, but in keeping with ‘be kind,’ think before firing off your next message or reply. Is it really what you mean? Have you considered how it will impact others? Also, be constructive: don’t only criticize, rather offer or at least solicit suggestions as to how to improve things. Being kind and thoughtful means being constructive in your criticism. A healthy debate and exchange of ideas is what we’re here for, but that doesn’t include tearing down other members or their ideas.

• Be friendly and welcoming

We’ve had a chance to get to know a lot of Club members over the years and can’t wait to meet even more of you here on the Discord server. Please join us in welcoming everyone and getting to know them.

• Respect Boundaries

It’s fine if you want to mention Federico, John, or Alex who will be participating actively in the Discord, but don’t overdo it. We won’t tolerate spamming the MacStories team with repeated, ongoing mentions. If you have feedback, a support question, or other problem, please use the Feedback, Club Support, and Report Issue channels in our Discord and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.

The same goes for other members. Please be respectful of boundaries for mentions, DMs, and other members’ time zones.

• Be open-minded and inclusive of all people and points of view

We have a diverse membership, and we think it is important to respect and celebrate our differences. This is especially true for Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and people in the LGBTQ+ community. We will remove any homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, or racist content without discussion.

• Avoid destructive behavior:

  • NSFW content: Cursing, nudity, violent images, discussing methods of suicide/self-harm

  • Derailing: Stay on topic; if you want to talk about something else, start a new conversation

  • Snarking: Pithy, unproductive, sniping comments

  • Discussing potentially offensive or sensitive issues; this all too often leads to unnecessary conflict

  • Microaggressions: Brief and commonplace verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults to a person or group

• Have fun

We created this community to have a place where we could gather around our common interests and have some fun. We hope you enjoy yourselves too, but if you aren’t or have ideas about activities for members, please let us know.

Unwelcoming Behavior

These actions are explicitly forbidden in the Club MacStories+ Discord server:

• Expressing or provoking:

• Insulting, demeaning, hateful, or threatening remarks

• Discrimination based on age, nationality, race, (dis)ability, gender (identity or expression), sexuality, religion, or similar personal characteristics;

• Bullying or systematic harassment

• Unwelcome sexual advances, including sexually explicit content.

• Advertisement for events, companies, organizations, unless specifically permitted by MacStories team.

• Posting spam-like content that disrupts the environment of the community.

• The Club community is not a storefront

Please feel free to promote projects you’re working on in the self-promotion channel, which we established for that purpose, but do not include links or buttons that automatically sign someone up for a service, email list, or product or take someone directly to a sign-up, purchase page, or similar destination. If what you are promoting requires an account, login, purchase, or something similar, linking to a website where members can learn more before signing up or buying is fine but do not use links to other Discord servers.

Moderation and Enforcement

We value your contributions to the Club MacStories+ Discord server. However, unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated. We expect Club MacStories+ members to act in accordance with our community values. If you conduct yourself in a way that is explicitly forbidden by the Code of Conduct, you may receive a warning, be asked to apologize, have your content removed, or be temporarily or permanently banned from the Club MacStories+ Discord server. In most cases, we will follow the following guidelines:

• On your first offense, you will receive a written warning from one of our community moderators. Depending on the severity of the offense you may be asked to apologize, privately or publicly, to the party that you have offended.

• On your second offense, you will be temporarily removed from the community. The period of the temporary ban may vary from a few days to a few months or longer, based on the severity of the reported behavior. You will still be considered a valuable member of the community, and this is an official warning of your behavior.

• On a third offense, you may be asked to leave the community. Your account may be suspended for an indefinite period and you may be publicly identified.

However, please note that the above bullet points are guidelines only. The MacStories team reserves the sole right to take any action deemed necessary to ensure the enjoyment of Club MacStories+ for its other members and to address inappropriate behavior, which may include immediate removal from the community.

The Club MacStories+ Team

The Club MacStories+ team is made of the MacStories team and Club MacStories+ volunteers. The specific member(s) handling a violation may vary depending on the nature of the issue.

Reporting Issues

If you encounter a conduct-related issue, you should report it in the appropriate Club MacStories+ Discord channel, using the process described below. Do not post the issue publicly or enlist others to support your claim.

• Confidentially report the issue in the “#report-issue” channel to the Club MacStories+ team.

• You may contact a member of Club MacStories+ directly if you do not feel comfortable using the designated channel. That member will then raise the issue with the Club MacStories+ team, preserving the reporter’s privacy (if desired).

• If your report concerns a Club MacStories+ team member, they will be excluded from the discussion of your report.

• You should receive a reply from the “#report-issue” channel moderator within 72 hours (probably sooner, and likely longer if you contact an individual team member).

• The Club MacStories+ team will review the incident and determine what happened. We may reach out to other Club MacStories+ members – with permission of the reporter – for more information.

• The Club MacStories+ team will reach a decision of how to act, which may include:

  • No action

  • A request for a public or private apology

  • A private or public warning

  • An imposed temporary suspension

  • A permanent ban from the Club MacStories+ Discord server

  • Cancellation of your Club MacStories+ membership account, with a pro rata refund for any remaining portion of the current month or year remaining on your subscription

• The Club MacStories+ team will reach out to the original reporter to let them know the decision.

• Appeals to the decision may be made using the same process described above.

Acknowledgments

This was adopted from the Hack Club, The Sidechannel Rules, and the Relay FM rules, with gratitude. Evan Silberman, Federico Viticci, Lachlan Campbell, John Voorhees, Burim Bewsh, Stephen Hackett, and Myke Hurley contributed to this document.