Advocacy is a wonderful thing – blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other online social media etc. are outlets to share your innermost thoughts and feelings. They can also be a forum for open conversation and, sharing influence. Sometimes, they are places to share giveaways and prizes. Having such an outlet, however, doesn't mean leaving manners at the door. Members of youwantbrands.com will be asked to agree to abide by the following guidelines:

·       Be timely in your interactions with the companies pitching you

o      Respond to pitches within 48-hours regardless of interest. If a pitch is not of interest to you, respond to the company thanking them for their pitch, but declining the opportunity

o      Post based on your agreement with the company as quickly as possible. If a company has provided you with an agreed upon timeframelined-agreement, honor that timeline to the best of your ability. Otherwise, post to your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc as soon as you have completed the item pitched to you.

·       Update and, maintain your youwantbrands.com profile

o      At least once a year, you will update your profile with any changes in your demographic information. Current information is the key to receiving targeted pitches.

o      Profiles that are not updated at least once by their anniversary date will be marked “inactive” and will not be searchable

Some additional guidelines of conduct:

Below is a universal Blogger's Code of Conduct, originally penned in 2007 by Tim O'Reilly*, a tech guru and supporter of open source. As a member of youwantbrands.com, you will be expected to adhere to this code.

1. Take responsibility for your own words and for the comments allowed on your blog/social media streams

·       You commit to not posting unacceptable content and you'll delete comments that contain it.

·       You may define unacceptable content as anything included or linked to that:
- is being used to abuse, harass, stalk or threaten others
- is libelous, knowingly false or misrepresents another person
- infringes upon a copyright or trademark
- violates an obligation of confidentiality
- violates the privacy of others

·       Define and determine what is "unacceptable content" on a case-by-case basis and definitions are not limited to this list. If you delete a comment or link, say so and explain why.

2. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.

·       Someone once said, “IS what I'm about to type, something I'd want my children to read?”

3. Connect privately before you respond publicly.

·       When you encounter conflicts and misrepresentation online, make every effort to talk privately and directly to the those involved- -or find an intermediary who can – before publishing any posts or comments about the issue.

4. Take action if you believe someone is unfairly attacking another.

·       When someone who is publishing comments or blog postings that are offensive, you'll tell them so (privately, if possible) and ask them to publicly make amends.

5. Do not allow or make anonymous comments.

·       You require commenters to supply a valid email address before they can post, though you allow commenters to identify themselves with an alias, rather than their real name.

6. Ignore the trolls.

·       Do not to respond to nasty comments about you or your blog, as long as they don't veer into abuse or libel. Believe that feeding the trolls only encourages them. Ignoring public attacks is often the best way to contain them.

[You+Me Marketing reserves the right to amend/change these standards at any time with no notice.]

 

*Credit: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/03/call-for-a-blog-1.html