Hey there ED boarders,
As most of you know, for the last eight months or so, the mods and members have been discussing the issue of the 'pro-ED' attitude that have been slowly affecting the ED board community.
This hasn't just been noticed by the Mods, but also by other staff, and members themselves, both from the ED board and others.
These complaints highlight that some threads, avatars and signatures, etc. give off the impression that an Eating disorder is a good, desirable, attractive, admirable...even
normal thing.
This is something we're really trying to tackle; it'd be very damaging for the community to continue this way, considering how ill its' members are, and how we proudly state this board is for
recovery.
Over the last year, the mods have discussed this and other issues with members of the ED forum, for example,
this thread, where you guys, and other RYL members, really rose to the challenge quite magnificently.
The comments of which were invaluable when decisions were made about the "
what are you wearing today" and the
ED board picture threads.
Also from the feedback, the mods have become a lot more active in dealing with more questionable content, and have tried to steer the forum away from pro tendencies by sending PMs to members, editing threads or removing avatars.
However, despite the changes, and despite the best efforts of both us as moderators, and the whole community, we feel that it hasn't made a change enough to warrant no more action.
After long discussion with the members, staff, moderators, and Harley, we've decided to implement some new policies, to try to keep RYL, and the ED board, as recovery-orientated as possible, and to make the most of the wonderful resource we've got here.
These changes are now in effect.
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The guidelines are:
1. There is a complete BAN on all numbers.
No numbers
that refer to eating disordered behaviour or body size/shape will be allowed. This includes BMI, Weight, Calories, as well as numbers such as amount of purges,
binges, laxatives taken, or days fasted.
The number aspect is only a small part of what an eating disorder is, and to move the board into a more positive spectrum of the disorder, we want to take the emphasis off numbers, and on to emotion.
Whilst numbers are no longer allowed, word categories are.
For example:
*
"my weight is alot less than what is "average" for my height""
*
"my BMI is considered underweight"
* "I ate heaps more than what is recommened for a daily requirement for someone my age, sex, and height"
* "I purged several times today"
* "i took alot more laxatives than what it says on the box/container" "
2. Any Pro/borderline/questionable avatars will be removed.
This includes avatars that contain: body shots, 'thinspirational' images, images that emphasize a person's thin physique, and well-known 'thinspirational' celebrities.
We have already been working on this, but will from now be taking a tougher approach, and will be penalising people who repeatedly break this rule.
3. Food lists are now completely banned.
Any list of food you have eaten, or are planning to eat, is NOT to be posted. This includes discussing any plans to go on a strict diet, or details of binges. This will apply to ALL forums, including the ED board, the ranting and Venting forum and RYL Journals.
The ONLY exemption to this rule is posting a meal plan set by your doctor or a qualified health professional e.g. a dietician. or posting a one-off positive announcement of foods eaten as a celebration of an important recovery-based milestone that has been achieved
4. Trigger labels.
As you will have noticed the trigger labels have all been removed apart from the *positive recovery post* label. These posts are to have NO TRIGGERING CONTENT WHATSOEVER. These are to be used, ideally, when an ED member achieves something on the road to recovery, no matter how big or small. We are no longer using any other trigger labels in this board, so please do not write in your own as they will be removed by the moderators. The trigger labels have been changed across RYL and this thread explains more.
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These are not rules/guidelines, just changes.
* Stickies
There is a new-look to the stickies, to try and help the board become more recovery orientated. These include such threads as the medical complications of EDs, what to do when RYL triggers you, and other brilliant articles. These stickies should provide you with much needed information, as well as to make supporting others easier.
[Please note changes here have yet come into effect]
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Please do remember the Post Report function - to find out more about it, click here. it makes the mods jobs a lot easier, as we are only human and have lives to live as well; RYL is such a huge place, and we are often pulled in many different directions on this website, and therefore its not always possible for the mods to always know every single thing that goes on in each board.
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Guys, this isn't going to work unless we all join forces and work together.
After all, we are a
community.
I know that we can do this if we try; we're not going to let the board deteriorate. We just want to build it back up to something we can
all be proud of.
Please, please PLEASE bear in mind that this does NOT mean if you are not in recovery, you can't post. These rules aren't about forcing people into recovery at all! We just want to make the ED board as safe as possible for those in recovery, as helpful as possible for those who aren't, and to make the most of the fantastic resource we have here.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM to one of the ED board moderators -
[Purple_Rain] , random.swirls - or to post any further questions here.
Thank you for your help.
The Moderating Team
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EDIT as of 10/03/09
The Terms 'Ana' and 'Mia' are now banned.
The terms 'ana' and 'mia' when in reference to the Eating Disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are now banned, due to severe 'pro' connotations. Suggested Alternitives are AN and BN.