I'd be very grateful if anyone could signpost me towards best practice guidance and/or advice on trustee responsibilities regarding online discussion forums. In particular, how to:
(i) deal with beneficiaries who repeatedly post messages of an inappropriate nature (e.g. personal / political / libelous / defamatory remarks)
(ii) ensure the safety of young people who visit the forum.
Many thanks
Matt Allgood
Trustee
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Hi Matt
Just some general comments in reply to your query on discussion forums. The rules of discussion forums vary from site to site - different sites have different standards - but these should be made clearly available when a user signs up to use the forum. That way they have no excuse for not knowing what is accetable and what is not. As far as dealing with messages of an inappropriate nature once they have been posted the best way is to emply a moderator - someone who's role is to enforce the rules of the forum and to ensure it is being used properly. This person would have "administrative" powers which would enable them to "close" or "lock" a certain discussion so that no more posts could be made against that topic and they are usually able to edit and delete posts where necessary. If the worst come to the worst they can also suspend a user, but of course this wouldn't prevent them from signing up under a different name.
And for some practical advice on keeping young people safe whilst on-line have a look at http://www.nagty.ac.uk/student_academy/forums/rules.aspx I hope that's started the ball rolling.
Sue