Vox Tip: Being a Good Vox Citizen

We really love the community that has formed on Vox, and we know it's a big draw for many of our fellow Voxers as well. As Vox grows, it's important for all of us to help the newer people learn the ropes and to remind each other of ways we can help Vox continue to be a fun and safe place.

The first tip for everyone is obvious:  Treat people as you would like to be treated.  We'd like to think that the Golden Rule applies to blogging too.  :) 

If you are new and not exactly sure about how to participate in the Vox community, we suggest you:

• Explore, read and comment.  As you read blogs and comments, you'll find new friends and see what different parts of the community are like.
  
• Respect the boundaries of Vox Groups. If a group has been established to talk about their favorite hamsters, then they probably aren't as interested in your post about your latest knitting project (unless you're knitting outfits for your hamsters, which would be pretty amazing). On the other hand, a knitting group would love to see your knitting posts.
• Treat private messages like an email or letter to the person - not like junk mail or a place to post a flyer.
  
• If you have a question, just ask.  This is a friendly community.  And the Knowledge Base is always a great place to find more information about Getting Started With Vox.

More seasoned Voxers and group hosts can try to keep things running smoothly and on-topic as well. Here are some suggestions:

• If someone seems to be flailing or confused, give them a hand.  Send them a private message with advice, comment on their brand new blog, or invite them to a group to make them feel connected.
  
• Group hosts should use the "About the Group" section of the group home page to clearly state what's appropriate to share in your group. Take a look at Creating and Managing Groups for information on that and other group management details.
• Group hosts can remove off-topic content from their groups by using the Remove from this group link on the individual page for the off-topic item. If you do remove content from your group, it might be nice to send a private message to the person to let them know why it was removed and tell them the kind of content you want to see in your group.

In general, it's important to keep communication open and to feel free to draw whatever boundaries feel appropriate for your blog or group. We should always feel comfortable to share our posts with smaller groups if we're talking about something sensitive, and posting with the privacy level set to your Neighborhood is a great way to get your thoughts out to people you know a little better. You can change the privacy on any item later if you want to open it up to more people.

If you're not getting through to someone who continues to add off-topic content to your group, leaves inappropriate comments on your blog, or sends you unwanted private messages, you do have the option to block that person. We hope that's not an option that any of us feel the need to use, but it's there if you need it.  If you see spam or anything on Vox that doesn't seem to fall within our Vox Community Guidelines, please take a look at Reporting Abuse or Spam for information on how to report it to us.

All of us play important roles in keeping Vox a welcoming place.  What suggestions would you give to someone trying to find his/her way around Vox? And what do you think it means to be a good Vox citizen?

- Brandy & the Vox Help team