Community Guidelines

Last updated: December 12, 2024

First, Foremost and Above All Else

Please, please, please, be kind to yourself and to others! The content on our Platform is created by writers who have poured out their hearts and minds into the stories they share with us. The least we can do is be kind about our reception and critique of their creativity.

Sincerely,
Tuvi
Creator of Osiọbe

Overview

Osiọbe is designed and intended to be a pleasant, friendly and collaborative space for grown-ups who enjoy books, and in such a space where literary minds converge, differences of opinion need never result in rudeness, insults, bullying or harassment. Therefore, in our attempts to establish and preserve a positive vibe on the Platform, users who post rude, insulting, threatening or harassing comments will quickly lose access to the comments sections and may even be permanently banned from the app.

We welcome constructive criticism (heavy on the constructive) and freedom of expression, but we insist that any criticism must be done without insults to the author or anyone else. Also keep in mind that people (including writers) are more likely to listen to and consider critiques which are not infused with venom.

Adult Language in the Comments Sections

Since Osiọbe is a Platform for people aged 18 and older, we do not necessarily wish to censor adult language in user comments. However, we must emphasize that one who insists on using adult language in the comments sections must also assume the responsibility of minding the distinction between adult language and impoliteness.

Important: The following examples are not intended to be a comprehensive guide on acceptable commentary. They are simply offered here for the purpose of explaining a general concept.

1.      I fucking love the FMC in this book!

2.      This book was boring as fuck.

3.      This was the most worthless jumble of words I have ever encountered.

The use of adult language in the first comment is merely emphatic (perhaps even humorous to some) and does not carry any insults with it. We would not consider a comment like this problematic.

The second comment, with or without the expletive, might not be exactly rude or insulting, but it is clearly not constructive. Why was the book boring to you? How does your comment help other readers or the writer? Perhaps a better way to phrase the second comment would be:

I did not like the pacing of this book.

OR

This book did not move me or hold my attention.

The third comment contains no adult language but is objectively rude while offering nothing constructive. We generally consider comments like this problematic, and we reserve the right to hide, delete or remove them from the Platform.

You might notice that, while praise typically requires little or no explanation, criticism is best offered with more detail, especially if the goal is improvement. So do not be shy to explain what you did not like about a title. Just remember to be polite about it.

Content Moderation

Titles: We reserve the right to remove or discontinue titles on the Platform at any time, with or without reason or prior notification. If a title you have purchased is discontinued or removed for any reason, you will still have access to it in your Bookshelf even if it may no longer be sharable or have an active comments section. You will however not retain access to discontinued titles under any Timed Access Packages.

User Comments: We make constant efforts to keep the comments sections on our Platform free of toxic, insulting and unconstructive comments. To this end, we will actively hide or remove offensive, insulting, threatening or harassing comments from the comments sections. We will also restrict access to the comments sections for users who repeatedly post such comments and ultimately ban them from the platform if they persist.

Disallowed Behaviour

1. Harassment and Bullying:
1. We do not allow or tolerate any harassing, bullying, threatening, insulting or degrading comments or actions against any individual or group for any reason including, but not limited to, in retaliation for the very same
2. We do not allow or tolerate any comments or actions which are defamatory, obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory to any individual or group
3. We do not allow or tolerate any comments or actions intended to provoke, intimidate or antagonize people, including but not limited to trolling
4. We do not allow or tolerate any discriminatory comments or actions, especially discrimination on the basis of a person’s race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, disability, sexuality or religion
5. Osiọbe especially has no tolerance for racism. We will immediately, and permanently, close the user account(s) of any users found to be engaged in any racist behaviour on our Platform
2. Doxing:
1. We do not allow or tolerate the public posting of any private or identifying information of any individual, user or third party, including but not limited to, phone numbers, social media handles or accounts, email addresses, residential addresses, work/office addresses, information contained in personal identity documents such as credit cards, ID cards, drivers' licenses, social security cards, passports, etc.
2. We do not allow or tolerate any comments, posts or actions which infringe or may infringe on any copyright, trademark, privacy or other intellectual property rights of any person
3. Crime & Violence:
1. We do not allow or tolerate any comments or actions which may constitute criminal activity or the promotion or incitement of crime or violence on our Platform.
4. Unwelcome Advances:
1. No means no. Please respect the personal spaces and boundaries set by other users. We are not against mutual friendships or interactions between adults on our Platform, but unwelcome advances, sexual or otherwise, are not allowed and will not be tolerated.

Enforcement of our Community Guidelines

We will typically warn offending users before blocking them from the comments sections or banning their accounts completely; however, we reserve the right to take immediate adverse actions, legal and otherwise, with or without notice, against any user(s) who violate any part of our Community Guidelines or collective Terms & Conditions.

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