Guidelines for Online Communities and Social Media

Thank you for visiting Society for Science & the Public (Society) and its programs and products through the Society’s websites, online communities, and social media webpages (collectively, “the Society’s social media platforms”).

By accessing, using, communicating and/or commenting through online comments or posts on the Society’s social media platforms (including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest), you agree to be bound by these Guidelines for the Online Communities and Social Media (“Guidelines”), as well as Terms of Use for the Society’s websites and Privacy Policy. The Society reserves the right to delete posts from participants who violate these Guidelines and to suspend or terminate the right of any participant for any reason.

In addition, comments posted on the Society’s social media platforms may be reproduced in Science News magazine and/or promotional materials in any medium, including but not limited to print or electronic form.

If you have questions about these Guidelines, please contact the Society at privacy@societyforscience.org.

The Guidelines

Please do:

  • Share your feedback, questions, relevant observations, and additional information.
  • Engage in collegial discussion or debate about the topic of the post.
  • Keep comments brief and to the point.
  • Flag inappropriate comments, either via the tools provided on the platform or by e-mailing privacy@societyforscience.org.

Please do not:

  • Attack other commenters.
  • Use profanity.
  • Use language that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, threatening, offensive, demeaning, derogatory, disparaging, or abusive, or post links to content that contains any of this language.
  • Degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference, disability, or other classification.
  • Make remarks that are off-topic.
  • Write lengthy comments beyond the scope of the original post.
  • Post spam.
  • Post commercial messages.

The Society reserves the right to delete comments that violate any of these Guidelines. Comments that violate these Guidelines, but also offer valuable contributions may be edited by Society staff.

Keep in mind that information posted on the Society’s social media platforms are available for all to see, and comments are subject to defamation, antitrust, privacy, and other laws.

The Society reserves the right to remove any comments for any reason at any time.

Legal Terms

The Society is not responsible for the opinions and information posted by third parties on the Society’s social media platforms. The Society disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on the Society’s social media platforms, whether posted by the Society or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall the Society be liable for any special, indirect, punitive, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on the Society’s social media platforms by third parties.

Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. In addition, by posting material, you grant to the Society the nonexclusive, world-wide, transferable right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material in any way and in any medium, including but not limited to print or electronic form.

The Society does not actively monitor all of the Society’s social media platforms for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings.

The Society reserves the right to block any users who do not abide by these Guidelines.