GovLoop’s mission is to connect government to improve government. Since its inception, GovLoop members have engaged one another in a spirit of openness, transparency and collaboration. Along the way, members like you provided feedback regarding community etiquette and the type of engagement that you’d like to experience on GovLoop. The Community Engagement Guidelines shown below were created and agreed upon by members. If you have any questions about them, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]:
DO:
1. Fill out your profile. Post a picture. We all want to see you smile. Nobody likes those limited profiles.
2. Join the conversation. We want to hear your ideas. Yes, really. We do!
3. Treat others as you want to be treated. Simple rule. But makes sense always.
4. Spread the word about GovLoop. Don’t keep it secret. If you think it rocks, tell your friends.
5. Focus on improving government – share your ideas/best practices.
6. Be generous and give back – comment as much (or more!) on others’ content as your own!
7. Join groups, because somebody went to the trouble to create and, hopefully, seed, each one.
8. Before starting a new group, check for existing ones where you can join and start/contribute to a discussion. We’re getting a lot of groups with one member and/or no comments. The groups work best when used for active discussions not suitable for the forum, blogs or user pages. Consider before creating and talk to a current group moderator
9. Ask to be added as a friend, and add a note of interest to your request.
10. Check out the profile of those asking to be added as your friend.
11. Read and add comments to blogs, forums, discussions, and member pages.
12. Have fun!
DON’T:
1. Try to sell your wares/company/product/etc.
2. Promote your event too much – post it up on the events calendar and that will get word out.
3. Spam people (i.e. posting the same message to multiple people or groups).
4. Excessively criticize an idea/person. Constructive debate is good. Name-calling is no good.
5. Be afraid. We are a friendly bunch. Ask questions. Connect. Be Merry.
6. Outright promote your company. Be part of the conversation and add value and people will notice.
7. Use it as a dating site.
8. Post inappropriate photos or link.
9. Feel like you must add every requestor as your friend.
10. Try to game the points system – quality of engagement is often more important than quantity.
11. Feel like you must respond to every comment.
12. Feel personally slighted if not everyone responds to your friend requests.
13. Feel personally rejected if not everyone responds to your comments.
14. Forget that GovLoop is an open forum and that your comments may be viewed by members of the press, your peers and/or supervisors and the public you serve.
Private Sector Partners
Individuals and groups must make their commercial interests clear in every piece of content posted, if possible, and particularly if those interests are not clear in their profile. The purpose of the site is to share knowledge, solve problems, and make connections…not to promote your products or services. We want GovLoop to be a safe space for government personnel to collaborate and connect with one another without experiencing a barrage of people making pitches. Thank you for respecting this
Any Groups,, Discussion Forums, or Blogs that promote companies or services should be created through the GovLoop Partner Program and should be clearly labeled as sponsored groups. Contact [email protected] for more information. Government employees do not have this obligation unless they have commercial interests.
Below are some additional principles that guide our approach to community management:
– Our mission is “to connect government to improve government”. As such, our focus is to help government employees and we generally will honor requests from government agencies first to make sure GovLoop is a safe and valuable community for government employees first and foremost, though we respect and welcome all members who support the advancement of the public sector.
– We encourage and support content that fits with the mission of GovLoop.
– We reserve the right to remove content that does not follow the guidelines above that have been created and agreed upon by the community. If we do, we will contact you as quickly as possible and let you know why there is an issue. We will work with you to resolve any issues so your content can be reposted.
– We reserve the right to move or deemphasize content that does not fit into a certain part of the site.
– We may revoke member privileges for members that continually ignore these community engagement guidelines. Generally, we will use a three strike policy (first infraction results in coaching, second in additional guidance and third time will lead to a temporary or permanent ban from the site).
– We will remain open to feedback and tell members when we have adjusted content they have posted.
– We reserve the right to delete members that do not maintain up-to-date profiles.
– We may encourage deletion and/or consolidation of groups that overlap in their membership or objectives.
– We may delete an inactive group after consulting with its creator.
In addition:
While government activities have an inherently political element, GovLoop would prefer that members designate specific groups or forums to engage in this dialogue and asks that blog posts not include inflammatory or incendiary remarks based on partisan viewpoints.
Thank you for being a member of GovLoop and for your ongoing contributions to its mission: to connect and improve government!