Community Guidelines

These guidelines cover the comments you leave on video stories, and anything else you post or send to us to be shown publicly, including your own story. They sit alongside our terms of use.

To comment, you only need a first name or nickname. You don't need an account. Loving a video is anonymous: we count one love per browser, and your name is never attached to it.

We lead with love. Talk to every person here as someone who is becoming who they are meant to be, not as the worst thing that ever happened to them, or the worst thing they ever did. People with records, people in recovery, people who have been through foster care, homelessness, abuse or trafficking, and the people who stand beside them: everyone belongs.

Good comments sound like: what this story meant to you, what got you through something similar, a word of encouragement for the person who shared, or a thank-you.

• Hate. No slurs, and nothing that attacks people for their race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or past.
• Harassment or threats. No bullying, name-calling, shaming, or wishing harm on anyone. No telling someone they deserved what happened to them.
• Other people's private information. Don't post anyone's last name, phone number, address, email, workplace or location, including your own. For a survivor, one detail can put them in real danger.
• Selling or asking for money. No ads, promo codes, links to fundraisers or payment apps, or "DM me" offers. If you want to help someone in our program, use the Rise Fund or donate.
• Medical or legal advice. Share what worked for you, but don't tell people what medicine to take or stop, or what to do in their court case. Point them to a doctor, a lawyer, or our free resource directory.
• Graphic detail. Please don't describe violence, abuse or drug use in graphic ways. Many readers are survivors.
• Spam and links. Comments with web links are held for review, and we usually don't post them.
• Pretending to be someone else, including RISEaid staff, a mentor, or a person in a story.
• Anything illegal, or anything that breaks someone else's copyright. See our copyright policy.

Sometimes a story stirs up a lot. If you write something that sounds like you might be in crisis, your comment won't be posted publicly. Instead we'll show you ways to get help right away, and a person on our team will see it.

Comments are not watched around the clock. If you're thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), any time, day or night. If you or someone else is in danger right now, call 911. You can also reach us at 888-860-RISE.

If you see a comment where someone seems to be in danger, please tell us right away using the contact details below.

Every comment goes through two layers of care:

• An automatic check. When you post, a simple word filter looks for phone numbers, email or street addresses, links, slurs, abusive language, spam, and words that suggest someone is in crisis. Anything it catches always waits for a person.
• A person on our team. Right now, every comment waits for a staff member to read and approve it before anyone else can see it. You'll see a note when your comment is waiting.

We read comments as soon as we can, but it isn't instant. We may also limit how many comments can come from one connection in an hour, to stop spam.

When we review a comment, we can approve it, hide it, or delete it. We may also remove a comment that was already showing, at any time. We don't edit what you wrote; if part of it breaks these guidelines, we hide the whole comment.

If someone keeps breaking these guidelines, we may stop posting their comments altogether.

Your comment shows with the name you typed, the date, and what you wrote. It stays up until you or we take it down.

There's no edit button. If you want a comment changed or removed, email hello@riseaid.org with the story it's on, the name you used and roughly when you posted, and we'll take it down.

To read what we store when you comment, and why, see our privacy policy.

See a comment or story that breaks these guidelines, shares your private information, or worries you? Tell us. Email hello@riseaid.org or call or text 888-860-RISE. Include the link to the story and the name on the comment if you can.

Reports about your own safety or privacy come first. We'll hide anything that could put someone at risk while we look into it.

If the problem is your own story, our story release explains how to have it taken down.