Talk guidelines and forum rules on caregiving forums

1. The cancer forums

A website to provide support for people who have or have had any type of cancer, for their
caregiver and for their family members.

The Cancer Forums User Policy

 Threads

Users are advised to take care to create their own thread and post in the appropriate forum.

Also advised to try to stay on topic and not hijack another member’s thread. If you have a
separate question, feel free to start a new thread. Moderators and Admins may move or split
threads at their discretion.

Before posting, please make sure you have read and understand the cancer forum link policy.

 Policy for Links

New members are permitted to link to their personal blog as well as links to reputable cancer
sites. The links will either be allowed or disallowed at a Moderator's, Supermoderator's or
Administrator's discretion. All links will be checked until proven after one month's membership
that the new member is legitimate.

This is the only effective way to keep spammers and scammers at bay. Users are encouraged to
use introductory time to post messages about their own struggle with cancer (or that of a loved
one), ask questions or offer advice and a link to reputable sites.

 Solicitation Policy

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES is one allowed to post links for advertising or

marketing purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, posts with the aim to sell a product or
promote a commercial venture. Posts that solicit members for donations, request participation in
surveys, solicit members for participation in documentaries or any other post not specific to the
mission of this Forum are also not permitted. Posts that fall under these categories will be deleted
and the members may be banned without warning . Also avoid posting links to other cancer
forums, unless it's to a particularly helpful thread.

 Posts with links to dangerous or pornographic content will result in an immediate ban without
warning.
  Language and Conflicts

While disagreements are inevitable on any forum, members are expected to remain civil and
respectful. If a conflict escalates or persists, a Mod or Admin will step in to help resolve it.

 Racial slurs, derogatory comments, sexually explicit or suggestive messages and other abusive
comments are not allowed and will be removed. Offending members will be reprimanded, which
may include being banned from the forums. The banning of members is done at the discretion of
the team of Moderators and Administrators.

 Moderators and Admins

Volunteer Moderators and Administrators are there to help . If you have any questions about
forum functionality, problems with another member or concerns about forum policy, you are
welcome to PM any one of volunteers or post in the appropriate thread.

In addition to offering advice and support, part of the job is to resolve conflicts and enforce forum
policy. If a member does not agree with a decision made by a Mod or Admin, he or she is invited
to PM that Mod or Admin to discuss their disagreement. However, members are expected to
adhere to and respect the decisions of the Mod Team. Rebellion and public rants about these
disagreements are both frowned upon and may result in a reprimand or ban.

 Complementary Therapies Forum

Before posting in our Complementary Therapies forum, please make sure you have read and
understand the Complementary Therapies Guidelines, which you can find stickied in that forum.
Posts advocating dangerous or illegal drugs, products or therapies will be locked or deleted.

2. Caring.com

Caring.com is a leading online destination for caregivers seeking information and support as they care for
aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones. On offer are thousands of original articles, helpful tools,
advice from more than 50 leading experts, a community of caregivers, and a comprehensive directory of
caregiving services.

Caring.com Community Code of Conduct

To make sure that the site remains a safe and supportive place for everyone, users are asked to
adhere to the following code of conduct while posting anywhere on the site:
  Please choose a screen name that's tactful, or the Caring.com staff will ask you to make a
change.
 Please refrain from using language that's profane, abusive, obscene, harassing,
threatening, hateful, or otherwise objectionable.
 Personal attacks are never allowed. Differences of opinion are welcome, as long as
they're presented respectfully.
 Revealing another member's real name, address, phone number, e-mail address, or any
other personally identifying information is forbidden. It's an invasion of privacy.
 Do not use the site for solicitation purposes. This includes activities such as promoting
businesses, sharing referral codes or links, and soliciting members for research purposes.
If you have a research request you'd like considered posting on the site, please e-mail
with the details at moderators (at) caring (dot) com.
 Do not use the site to generate traffic for other sites. Making references, providing a link,
or otherwise mentioning other sites of value to members is permitted -- as long as you
don't do so habitually or for your own self-interest.
 Always post honestly and in good faith. Posting in a manner that is disruptive to the site
may result in suspension or exclusion from the site.
 If you post anonymously for the purpose of violating code of conduct, you may be
immediately banned from participating at Caring.com.
 It's your responsibility to keep your contact information current. The staff at Caring.com
may use your e-mail address to contact you regarding your posts made on the site.

By participating on our site, you are agreeing to abide by our code of conduct. Failing to do so
may result in a suspension of your participation or in the banning of your account. code of
conduct is enforced by Caring.com staff and is subject to caring.com interpretation. Caring.com
reserves the right to make changes to the code of conduct with or without notice. Also reserves
the right to ban a member at any time for any reason, with or without notice.

3. Agingcare

AgingCare helps families find answers, care and information on eldercare by:

Member Comment Policy

 All viewpoints are welcome, but all comments should remain relevant to eldercare,
related issues, and caregiver support. Responses should respect the unique experience and
perspective of each member. For accuracy and ease of use, please use complete sentences
with attention to spelling and punctuation. Use whole words when possible to clarify
content and avoid unknown abbreviations and “text talk.” Please post your question or
comment in the appropriate topic.
 Personal attacks and threatening language are prohibited and will be removed. Avoid the
use of profanity and be respectful of others’ sensitivities. Do not post offensive or
discriminatory remarks towards groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin,
religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status or sexual orientation/gender identity.
  Advertisement, of any sort, is not permitted. Mass solicitation, promotional content, and
links to outside sources will be disabled or removed. Efforts to solicit users directly,
including through the use of personal messaging, will be removed. Users wishing to
advertise should contact AgingCare by phone or complete a contact form.

 For your safety, our staff will remove any personal information posted. Agingcare.com
prohibits the sharing of your email address, phone number, address, or full name in the
public forum. Members help us manage forums and monitor forum rules. We do not
prescreen user content. Report a post you feel violates our policies by using the “report
post” feature.

 AgingCare.com retains the right to determine which comments violate this Member
Comment Policy and AgingCare.com shall have, in its sole discretion, the right to edit,
refuse or remove any member comments and content from the site. The views expressed
within posted comments do not necessarily reflect those of AgingCare.com.

Legal Issues

 AgingCare.com is intended to be used for lawful purposes only. You may not post on the
site any content that is libelous, false, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive,
harassing or threatening, or violates the rights of others. You agree that, in submitting
user content, you will only submit content that is reasonably related to the subject matter
of the online discussion or site feature, as applicable.

 AgingCare.com reserves the right, but undertake no duty to review, edit, move or delete,
in AgingCare.com’s sole discretion and without notice, any material posted by users on
online question and answers or discussions which may be included on the site. The nature
of this site is interactive and public. You cannot expect that communications through our
site will remain "private" or otherwise free of our review.. All member content shall be
the property of AgingCare.

This Member Comment Policy is valid for all discussions on AgingCare.com and applies to any
content posted by a user. AgingCare.com encourages your participation in discussions and looks
forward to the continued active exchange of ideas.

https://www.caring.com/support-groups
http://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/We-can-help/Alzheimer-society-message-board

https://www.cancerforums.net/

https://www.agingcare.com/caregiver-forum

Use of badges to build habits

1. Stackoverflow

Lesson 1 – The Right Reward

In May 2007, entrepreneur and Internet celebrity Jason Calacanis launched a site called Mahalo.
A flagship feature of the new site was a Q&A forum known as Mahalo Answers. Unlike
previous Q&A sites, Mahalo utilized a special incentive to get users to ask and answer questions.
People who submitted a question would offer a bounty in the form of a virtual currency known
as “Mahalo Dollars.” Then, other users would contribute answers to the question and the best
response would receive the bounty, which could be exchanged for real money. By providing a
monetary reward, the Mahalo founders believed they could drive user engagement and form new
habits.

At first, Mahalo garnered significant attention and traffic. At its high point, 14.1 million users
worldwide visited the site monthly. But over time usage stalled.

Calacanis blamed Google’s algorithm update for having a major negative impact but said
Mahalo was, “growing very slowly” even before the change. As Mahalo struggled to retain
users, another Q&A site began to boom. Quora, launched in 2010 by two former Facebook
employees, quickly grew in popularity. Unlike Mahalo, Quora did not offer a single cent to
anyone answering questions. Why then, have users stayed engaged with Quora but not with
Mahalo, despite its monetary rewards?
In Mahalo’s case, executives assumed that paying users would drive repeat engagement with the
site. After all, people like money, right?

However, Quora demonstrated that social rewards and the variable reinforcement of recognition
from peers proved to be a much more salient motivator. Quora instituted an upvoting system that
reports user satisfaction with answers and provides a steady stream of social feedback. Quora’s
rewards have proven more attractive than Mahalo’s because the incentive to answer a question is
driven by the anticipation of social, not financial, reward. When it comes to online communities,
the need to connect and contribute turns out to be a more powerful motivator than collecting
cash.

Lesson 2 – Frequency Matters

Think of the products and services you would identify as “habit-forming.” Odds are most of
these services are used daily, if not multiple times per day. For instance, in December of 2013, a
remarkable 61.5 percent of Facebook’s 1.23 billion monthly active users returned to the site at
least once per day. A survey conducted by IDC revealed Americans checked Facebook an
average of 14 times per day.

When it comes to forming habits, frequency matters and studies have demonstrated that how
often a behavior occurs is a key factor in the likelihood of creating a new routine.

On Mahalo, only one person was awarded the monetary bounty, often days after submitting their
answer. If payouts were meant to take the form of a game, then the rewards came too
infrequently to matter. The same can be said for those asking questions. Relative to the results
delivered by Google, Mahalo Answers took an eternity. Services that can deliver quick rewards
encourage higher frequency of use and have an easier time forming new habits.

Though still not as fast as a Google search, Jelly provides feedback relatively quickly. It is not
surprising given his Twitter pedigree that Biz Stone understands the power of frequent
interactions. On Twitter, the feedback is fast and often furious — a single tweet can generate
favorites, retweets, and replies within seconds. For Jelly to succeed, users must receive frequent
reinforcement.

Within 60 seconds of submitting the question, “Why do you use Jelly?” four people responded,
pulling me back to the app before my grip left my iPhone. When asking a question on Jelly,
friends and friends-of-friends receive a push notification, prompting the recipients to help.

Unfortunately, to get the notifications, users need to have the app. As one would expect of a
fledgling service, Jelly has not yet reached the critical mass of people needed to provide the
quick Twitter-like feedback users crave. For the reward to come fast enough, not only does Jelly
need enough users, but it must also build the right kind of community.
Lesson 3 – A Community of People Whose Opinions We Care About

We are a species that depends on each other. Social rewards are driven by our connectedness
with other people. Our brains are adapted to seek rewards that make us feel accepted, attractive,
important, and included. Many of our institutions and industries are built around this need for
social reinforcement. From civic and religious groups to spectator sports and “water cooler”
television shows, the need to feel social connectedness informs our values and drives much of
how we spend our time.

Sites that leverage these kinds of rewards benefit from what psychologist Albert Bandura called
“social learning theory.” Bandura studied the power of modeling and ascribed special powers to
our ability to learn from others. In particular, Bandura showed that people who observe someone
being rewarded for a particular behavior are more likely to alter their own beliefs and subsequent
actions.

However, social rewards are not as meaningful if they come from just anyone. Notably, Bandura
showed that when people observe the behavior of people most like themselves, or those who are
slightly more experienced, social learning worked particularly well. This is exactly the kind of
targeted demographic and interest-level segmentation that industry-specific sites such as Stack
Overflow apply.

Stack Overflow, the world’s largest Q&A site for software developers, generates a staggering
5,000 answers to member questions daily. Many of these responses provide detailed, highly
technical and time-consuming answers. Users invest effort into what others may see as the
burdensome task of writing technical documentation.

Like Quora users, Stack Overflow users are not rewarded with money, but recognition within the
community. Each time a user submits an answer, other members have the opportunity to vote the
response up or down. The best responses percolate upwards, accumulating points for their
authors. When they reach certain point levels, members earn badges, which endow special status
and privileges.
Stack Overflow works because, like all of us, software engineers find satisfaction in contributing to a
community they care about; turning a seemingly mundane task into an engaging, game-like experience.
But on Stack Overflow, points are not just an empty game mechanic, they confer special value by
representing how much someone has contributed to their tribe. Users enjoy the feeling of helping their
fellow programmers and earning the respect of people whose opinions they value.

2. Learndash

Badges and gamification elements encourage learners to engage with a course. In fact, points and
badges were one of the first feature updates to LearnDash, the result of high user demand.
However, as popular as the feature may be, knowing how to use it in your course is another
matter. Fortunately, top-notch examples for effective badge usage abound.

Case in point: I’m an audiobook addict, and Audible is my app of choice. I usually start my
audiobook when I get up in the morning and listen while I’m getting ready for work. I also listen
to audiobooks in the car, while making meals, and while doing chores around the house. Audible
didn’t make me an audiobook listener, but its badge system did turn listening to audiobooks into
a minor obsession.
And, as it so happens, it’s also an excellent case study in how to use gamification to support
learners in your course. Here’s a run through of a few of their badges, and how to apply the to
your online course.

Top Audible badge ideas for online education:

1. Daily Dipper: Listening for consecutive days.

This one is great for helping your users build a habit. Once learners notice they have a streak
going, they’ll keep checking in so as not to break it.

2. Social Butterfly: Sharing to social media.

Reward your learners for making social posts about their course progress. Sharing with their
network will help break down isolation, and it will bring you some publicity as well.

3. Stenographer: Taking notes and leaving bookmarks.

I didn’t even know this feature existed in Audible before I saw the badge. It’s use for your course
will depend on what functions you allow, but it’s a great example of how to use badges to
encourage learners to explore the course tools.

4. The Closer: Completing a book start-to-finish.

I can see awarding this to learners who finish a course within a certain period of time, or who
complete a certain number of lessons in a day.

What other badges might work for online education?

Of course, not every Audible badge translates well to online education. The “Dabbler” badge, for
instance, seems to be for listeners who keep moving from book to book without finishing any.
(It’s one of the few I don’t have.) It’s basically the polar opposite of the kind of habit you’re
trying to build in your learners.

Others, such as the “Night Owl,” “Weekend Warrior,” and “High Noon” are for listening at
certain times of the day, but honestly it feels a little cruel to award badges to learners who are
studying at midnight. Then there’s ones such as “The Stack” (for learners who have completed
multiple courses?) or “Mount Everest” (for learners who have completed a particularly long
course?), but they seem like more of a stretch to me.

That said, Audible is far from the only place to use badges. Looking around, here are a few more
ideas that could work for online learners:

Badges to encourage forum use:

5. Conversationalist: For being active in the discussion forum.

Reward learners for leaving comments and engaging in the content. Give extra points to learners
who leave comments that receive a lot of “likes.”

6. Discussion Leader: For starting a conversation topic.

Asking good questions and sharing interesting information helps add value to the community.
Encourage learners to keep the discussion going and reward them for building participation.

7. Supporter: For “liking” posts from other learners.

Learners that encourage and promote other learners help build the community. A badge
recognizes them for their effort and marks them as a positive contributor to the forum.

Badges to encourage feature use:

8. Tourist: For completing a user tutorial and taking a tour of the site.

A short user tutorial can help orient first-time learners and reduce the number of support
requests. It can also introduce them to features that could help them complete the course.

9. Librarian: For accessing and using the course library.

Do you have a resource library available to learners? Have they ever looked at it? Offer a badge
for exploring the library and reading/downloading articles.

10. Leaderboard: For scoring on/checking the course leaderboard.

Have you implemented a leaderboard to inject some healthy competition into your course?
Award badges for checking in or achieving a high score.

Badges to reward learning achievement:

11. Perfect Score: For acing a test.

For some learners, achieving a perfect score is its own reward. Others might be encouraged to
study a little harder if there’s a badge at stake.

12. Quiz Master: For finishing a certain number of quizzes.

Quizzing is a great way to help learners test their learning progress, and it helps move recently
learned concepts from short to long-term memory as well. A quiz badge can be an incentive to
encourage learners to take the quizzes as they go.

13. Scholar: For completing a lesson.

This is an easy badge to level up as the learner completes more lessons. Maybe they earn the
“novice” badge for their first lesson, “scholar” after a few more (the average length of a course,
perhaps), and “master” for a large number (several courses).

14. Course Badge: For completing a course.

Sure, you’re probably awarding them a certificate for completing the course, but why not include
a badge for their profile, too?

Reward badges for large and small achievements alike.

Badges motivate some learners more than others, but it’s rare to find a learner who doesn’t feel a
small thrill of pleasure and achievement for earning one. In fact, one of the things I like about
badges is how you can award them for large and small achievements alike. The satisfaction for
receiving a relatively easy badge (completing a tutorial) can spur learners toward working harder
to achieve larger badges (finishing a course). The badges in between act as milestones, rewarding
achievement and reinforcing certain actions.

3. Open2study

Lifelong learning is a journey of adventure and exploration . . . and you never know what you
might find on your travels!

To help you celebrate and keep track of your efforts in Open2Study, we have a badges system to
reward you for being involved. We know your newfound knowledge is probably reward enough,
but who doesn't love a bit of a hurrah while we're at it?

You can earn badges for completing courses, participating in forums, sharing Open2Study with
your broader networks and lending your support to other students in the classroom. It's up to you
whether you use them as a little reward for your hard work, or a way to compete with your
friends and classmates

Whatever your motivation, the more you get involved with Open2Study, the more badges you'll
earn.

2. Facebook

Ever feel like you’re one of your favorite DJ’s biggest fans? Well, now you can actually tell with
top fan badges on Facebook.

Facebook users can now receive a badge that will be (optionally) displayed on any posts or
comments that you make on the corresponding page. In the example below, Gabe is a top fan of
Skrillex and any post or comment he makes will have a star next to his name, denoting his Top
Fan status.
As Facebook has continued to cut reach on artists’ and publishers’ posts over the past year, this
is an excellent incentive to get users actively engaging with content again on the platform. Not
only that, but users get to flaunt their top fan status. We see this being especially coveted for
some of the more hysterical fandoms, like those belonging to Benedict Cumberbatch, Justin
Bieber, Taylor Swift, LeBron James, and other notable figures.

How do you get the badge? Start interaction: post, comment, like, share, follow, and invite
friends to like the pages you do! Just do it more often than everyone else.

Facebook Marketing Update: Watch For Fan Badges

Facebook recently rolled out a new feature which awards users

for high levels of interaction (likes, shares, comments) with a page by bestowing "fan badges" to
them. Here Michael Brandvold outlines how these badges can be utilized, and what to watch for.

______________________

Guest post by Michael Brandvold of Michael Brandvold Marketing

All of sudden a brand new feature has rolled out on one of the Facebook Pages I manage. I try to
stay on top of Facebook features, but this one got right by me. Facebook Fan Badges looks very
interesting!

Facebook users can now be awarded a top fan badge for their interactions on a Page. You want
to be the top fan, you need to interact… post, comment, like, share.

Facebook Fan Badges appears in the Community tab on your page, if you have it. It doesn’t
appear to have rolled out for everyone yet so keep watching for it if your Page doesn’t have it
yet.
In the Settings for your Page you can find it in the left column under Facebook Badges. Basically
it looks like your only option is to turn the feature on or off.
What can you do with the Facebook Fan Badge feature?

Well a few things come to mind immediately.

1. You can easily identify your top fans and this is always important to know.
2. You can encourage more interactions on your page if a fan would like to receive a badge.
3. You can reward your top fans every week… merchandise, merchandise discount, free download.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2018/06/facebook-marketing-update-watch-for-fan-
badges.html

https://www.open2study.com/badges

https://www.youredm.com/2018/05/23/facebook-now-offering-top-fan-status-to-pages-most-
engaged-followers/

https://www.learndash.com/14-badge-ideas-to-engage-and-motivate-learners/
Apps with both functionality and forum built

1. Airbnb

Airbnb is an online marketplace which lets people rent out their properties or spare rooms to guests.
Airbnb takes 3% commission of every booking from hosts, and between 6% and 12% from guests. ...
There are photos of the property, and the hosts/guests, with full map listing.

It describes itself as a peer-to-peer online marketplace and homestay network that allows people to list or
rent short-term lodging in residential properties.

The cost of the accommodation varies, but it always set by the property owner.

The company makes its money through a per cent of service fees from guests and hosts with every
booking.

There are more than 2,000,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 191 countries.
There are forums discussing and trying to help fellow members .

The Airbnb Blog

Covering everything from host success tip to travel inspiration and company news, The Airbnb
Blog is a great resource for beginner and experienced hosts alike. For ease of navigation, Airbnb
have split their blog’s content into categories. These include: news; wanderlust; hospitality; local
lens; events; stories and trust & safety. Plus, all content is available in over 10 languages.
Airbnb Community

The Airbnb Community forum is a place for all hosts to explore tips and tricks, connect locally
via meetups and clubs and get support from others, or provide support to your fellow hosts. It’s
easy to start a conversation or contribute to existing ones.

AirHostsForum

Although not officially affiliated with Airbnb, the AirHostsForum is continuously growing from
strength to strength, and now has around 5,000 active members and more than 96,000 posts,
covering all sorts of topics and queries related to Airbnb hosting.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/All-Discussion-Rooms/ct-p/host
https://learnairbnb.com/airbnb-hosting-beginners-guide/
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Center/ct-p/community-center

2. Plum
Plum rather links to your existing current account so it can analyse your spending and start saving for you
automatically. Every week the app transfers a small amount of money into your Plum savings, which you
can then access at any time by simply sending a message on Facebook Messenger.
Plum is only available in the UK and works with personal current accounts with your bank. The banks we
support are: NatWest, RBS, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, First Direct, Halifax, Citibank,
Nationwide, TSB, Bank of Scotland, the Co-Operative Bank, Metro Bank, Clydesdale Bank,
Thinkmoney, Yorkshire bank, Tesco Bank, Ulster Bank, Citibank, Smile Bank, First Trust Bank, Bank of
Ireland and Post Office Bank.

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/withplum.com
https://withplum.com/
https://help.withplum.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001244929-Which-banks-does-Plum-work-with-