Dos and Don’ts for Participating in our Facebook Groups

Thanks for being a part of the Troop Leader Central (TLC) Facebook community.  Here are some basic guidelines that we ask you follow while participating in the chat groups.
The following rules & guidelines pertain to our main group Leader Chat and all of our groups in general.  Some of our groups have rules specific to them and you’ll find them down below.

1. RESPECT is REQUIRED in ALL exchanges between members.

This is a very diverse group with very diverse viewpoints. Be inclusive of other opinions and perspectives, even while you share your own opinion.

  • No shaming or personal attacks
  • No disrespectful language
  • No comments like ‘you should not be a leader’
  • No bullying, attacking, escalating fights
  • Do treat everyone here with kindness and respect.
  • Do assume that other participants have positive intentions.
  • Do use the “Report to Admin” tool so that the TLC moderator team can take a look at any potentially harmful content.

There is ZERO TOLERANCE for disrespecting or degrading any race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.

We’re all in this together. Let’s treat everyone with respect. Treat group members as if you were chatting around a campfire. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.

Every member has the option to “scroll on.”  You do not have to comment on every post. You do not have to agree with every post.  If you are commenting on a post, you are expected to do so in a respectful manner.

Remember that ‘tone’ can be hard to convey in a chatroom setting; please assume the best of each other and not the worse.  If someone has a different view than yours, do not take it as a personal attack. Take time to choose our words carefully. Do your best to resolve differences quickly and respectfully. You always have the ability to block a group member and to report rule violations to moderators.

2. All posts should be female youth group focused.

We welcome conversation on all topics that relate to our troops and issues that affect us as leaders.

3. No Buying & Selling.

There should be no buying and selling in our community; except in our buy/sell group Scout Shop Buy & Sell.

This includes, but not limited to NO SELLING, BUYING, or MARKETING Girl Scout cookies and candies or selling travel. These items can not be sold anywhere in our community; not even in Scout Shop Buy & Sell. Do not ask to buy or offer to sell cookies or candies within our groups. This includes posting your online sales links, offering to email a link, letting group members know you have cookies that you are willing to sell to them, sending PMs to group members with sales information, etc. Group members are not your daughter’s potential customers. No marketing or advertising your cookie or candy sales in our community in any capacity.

Business Owners, if you have a product that you think our community would benefit from, please reach out to us at m.me/TroopLeaderCentral

4. No Self-Promoting/Advertising.

This includes promoting your

  • Business
  • Blog or website
  • Social media account
  • FB page & group
  • No affiliate links
  • No “influencer” posts

DO NOT leave links or name drop brands that you have a ‘Material Connection’ to.  ‘MATERIAL CONNECTION’ is any connection that might affect the weight or credibility that group members give an endorsement.  Read more about the FTC’s policy if you think you may have a Material Connection to a brand.

Materials Connections include:

  • Receiving monetary payments, gift cards, store credit
  • Employee, business, friendships, or family relationships
  • Arms-length business deals
  • Receiving free or discounted products or services
  • Chance to win a prize
  • Chance to be featured on a blog

Group Admin will periodically post threads that allow for self-promotion, such as ‘Toot Your Horn’ and “Blog Post Share’ threads.  You are welcome and encouraged to promote in these threads.

Business Owners and Brands, if you have a product, event, etc. that you think our community would benefit from, please reach out to us at m.me/TroopLeaderCentral

5. No Spammy Content

Please, nothing that could be considered spammy.  Including, but not limited to:

  • Square Referral links
  • Donation Requests & GoFundMe links
  • Affiliate links
  • Giveaways & Contests
  • Card Sending Campaigns
  • Petitions
  • Prayer requests
  • ‘Off-Site’ voting contests
  • ‘See how far this can go’/ cyber security type posts

6. No ‘exchanges’

Requests to exchange Pen Pals, Flat Juliettes, SWAPS, Postcards, etc. are only allowed in our group Exchange – SWAPS, Post Cards, & Pen Pals.

Addresses and personal contact information should never be shared in a group post, please share those details in private PMs.

7. Viral Posts, Game-like Posts, Cupcake Wars, & Memes

These types of posts may have comments turned off after a while if they begin to take over the group feed and become spammy.

Duplicate shared posts may be deleted.

‘See how far I can go’ type cybersecurity posts are not allowed in the group.

8. Mentions, shout-outs, & links to SOME COMPANIES …

Mentions, promotions, ads, links, pics, etc. to SOME companies, SOME social media accounts, etc. may not be allowed. This may be due to unlicensed use of trademarks & intellectual property owned by others, not following Facebook’s Terms of Service and Community Standards, unsavory business practices etc. that have led us to no longer allow their promotion within our community. Posts and comments referencing these businesses will be removed.

9. Intellectual Property

Please follow Facebook Terms of Service and Community Standards regarding intellectual property, trademarks and copyrights.

Mentions, shout-outs, & links to companies selling unlicensed merchandise will be removed.

Do not upload copyrighted files to our group files.

10. Disinformation & Misinformation

Disinformation will be deleted. Merriam-Webster defines ‘disinformation’ as “false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.”

Misinformation may be deleted. Misinformation is defined as “incorrect or misleading information.” We will review these posts on a case-by-case basis and delete as needed.

Links to fake news sites will be removed.

11. Do not spam our group members.

Do not reach out to group members via Messenger unless they have personally requested you to do so. Unsolicited direct/personal messages (PMs) are spam. Our member list is not a marketing list.  Using our group member list to send unsolicited emails, PMs, requests, FB invites, etc. is spam. If you receive spam from a group member, please notify Troop Leader Central.

12. Content Not Available & Blocked Content

Posts/comments that include shout-outs, recommendations, links, etc. to FB groups or pages that have our admins/mods blocked will be removed. Shared posts from private groups that appear as ‘Content Not Available’ posts will be removed. Basically, if FB is preventing us from seeing the content, we remove it.

Group members that block admins/mods will be removed from our community.

13. DO NOT DISRESPECT OR BLOCK the admins or moderators.

Even if you block a group admin, they are still able to view all of your group activity. Blocking an admin just prevents YOU from seeing OUR announcements & posts. If you block us, you will be removed from the group.

Posts containing links & shout-outs to profiles, pages, groups, companies, etc. that have our admins or moderators blocked will also deleted, as we are unable to validate the legitimacy of the site.  If we can’t view the information, we remove it.

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