Visual Space values civil discourse, respectful disagreement, and thoughtful contributions. In addition to the Terms of Service, Section VI: Acceptable-Use Policy, which outlines prohibited conduct such as illegal activity, harassment, and deceptive practices, this code highlights the spirit of respectful collaboration that defines the Visual Space community.  Please uphold these standards as best you can to support a healthy community.

Please do

• Remember the human. When communicating online, remember you're interacting with real people. Ask yourself: "Would I say this to their face?" or "Would this be okay if I said it to a friend?"
• Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.
• Read the rules of a sapce/community before making a submission. These are usually found in the sidebar.
• Use proper grammar and spelling. Thoughtful discussion depends on clear communication. Be open for gentle corrections.
• Keep submission titles factual and free of personal opinions. If your take is passionate or controversial, share it in the post or comments—not the title.
• Credit the original creator. Instead of resharing third-hand content, try to trace back to the source and link directly to the person or project that deserves recognition.
• Choose the most relevant space for your post. If your content fits more than one space, cross-post where appropriate.
• Vote.  If you think something contributes to conversation, upvote it. If you think it doesn't contribute to the community it's posted in or is off-topic in a particular community, downvote it.
• Consider leaving constructive feedback/explanation. Be respectful and clear about your reasoning when offering critique.
• Report any spam you see. Help keep Visual Space clean and trustworthy.
• Read content before reacting. Don’t vote based only on the headline—engage with the full post first.
• You can share your own content—sparingly. A healthy balance is key. A common rule is to ensure at least 9 out of every 10 posts you share are not self-promotional.
• Give others the benefit of the doubt. Avoid accusing someone of being deceptive or farming engagement unless there's clear evidence.

Please don't

• Engage in illegal activity.
• Distribute unauthorized or illegal copies of content. Sharing copyrighted material without proper rights or permission is strictly prohibited and will result in removal or account suspension. Respect intellectual property laws and the licensing terms of all shared content.
• Post personal information. Doxxing not allowed. Do not share someone’s private details—this includes links to personal social profiles (like public Facebook pages) or screenshots showing names or faces. Even if someone behaves poorly online, vigilantism can harm innocent people. These posts will be removed, and accounts doing this may be permanently deleted. If you notice such behavior, report it to the Visual Space admins. If personal information is essential for context (e.g. in a heated comment thread), obscure all names, photos, and identifiers using blurring, blocking, or masking.
• Repost content that was previously removed. If a comment or post was deleted for violating rules—such as showing personal info or graphic content—don’t re-upload it. If it was taken down, it should stay down.
• Downvote posts just because you don’t like them. Downvotes are meant to signal that a post doesn’t contribute meaningfully—not that you personally disagree. Pause before reacting emotionally and downvote only if the content doesn't support healthy discussion.
• Ask for votes, directly or indirectly. Don’t try to game the system with phrases like “Help this reach the front page!” or “Upvote if you agree!” or “I’ll do X if this hits 500 votes.” This includes promises of gifts or stunts in exchange for votes.
• Send external messages (like DMs, tweets, group chats) to ask for votes or participating when others do. These attempts at vote manipulation will lead to bans.
• Ask for upvotes in exchange for gifts or prizes. "Upvote me to the top and I'll give away ..."
• Flood Visual Space with a lot of posts in a short span of time. Don’t flood Visual Space with too many submissions at once. Overposting clogs discovery and may trigger spam filters. In severe cases, your account might be shadow banned.
• Write titles in ALL CAPS.
• Make comments that lack content. Phrases such as "this", "lol", and "I came here to say this" are not witty, original, or funny, and do not add anything to the discussion.
• Complain about cross posts. Just because you saw it in one place, doesn't mean everyone has seen it. Just vote and move on.

Moderate with purpose

• Design spaces that support collaboration. Moderators are expected to uphold Visual Space’s community standards by defining clear rules, norms, and expectations that align with our policies. Encourage respectful, productive participation. Don’t create, approve, or enable content or behavior that breaks the Terms of Service. Every post, comment, tag, or automation in your space reflects your standards — use that influence thoughtfully.
• Set Appropriate and Reasonable Expectations/Rules. Users who enter your community should know exactly what they’re getting into, and should not be surprised by what they encounter. It is critical to be transparent about what your community is and what your rules are in order to create stable and dynamic engagement among contributors. Make your rules easy to understand. Clear rules make it easier to join and stay. Let users know what the space is for and how to contribute. Avoid surprises or ambiguous expectations. Your community may evolve over time, but we expect that you will strive to keep it stable and usable.
• Respect Your Neighbors. As a moderator, you cannot interfere with or disrupt Visual Space communities, nor can you facilitate, encourage, coordinate, or enable members of your community to do this. Don’t encourage chaos across the platform. Spaces should focus on their own goals, not provoke or criticize others. Avoid drama, raids, or targeting people or groups.
• Be active. Whether your space is big or small, moderators should regularly check in, respond to issues, and keep things running smoothly. Don’t just hold onto moderation rights without helping.
• Moderate based on quality, not opinion. Well written and interesting content can be worthwhile, even if you disagree with it.
• Moderate as a team, not as individuals. Mods should collaborate, communicate, and align on decisions. Set shared expectations and support each other to maintain a consistent, fair experience for your space.
• Use your mod powers fairly. Don't promote or remove posts in exchange for rewards, attention, or favors. No paid pins, special privileges, or promotion deals. Trust is earned, not traded.
• Maintain a professional boundary with companies and brands. It’s fine to host discussions involving organizations, but moderators must not accept money, perks, or favors in exchange for pinned posts, special treatment, or moderation decisions. Keep your community’s trust — don’t trade it.
• Accept accountability. If Visual Space staff reaches out to fix a problem, respond constructively. We're here to help spaces succeed, not control them — but we may intervene if standards aren’t met.

Promote Collaboration and Productivity

• Use a clear license. Add a LICENSE.txt file at the root of your space to define how others can use, remix, or build on your work. Always review the license before contributing — make sure it aligns with your expectations. Spaces without a clear license create legal uncertainty and can’t support sustained, collaborative growth or shared ownership.
• Be transparent about futur plans of going private. If your space may become private or commercial in the future, state that clearly. Share your long-term goals and how contributor efforts might be used, credited, or compensated. Clear expectations early on help avoid conflict and build lasting trust.
• Encourage goals and accomplishments, discourage brain rot. Support users who set and reach clear milestones. Celebrate progress and recognize contributors. Strive for depth, clarity, and meaningful discussion. Stay focused on topics that push things forward.
• Promote and showcase great ideas. Use pinned posts to highlight new proposals, spark discussion, and guide attention toward promising directions. Pinning posts helps users that have less availability to keep in sync with the team.
• Split ongoing chats into topics. When conversations shift, create new threads and publish summaries. These summaries help onboard newcomers and recruit volunteers. Also users with with less time available can keep up to date with the latest discussions by reading the chat topics summaries lists. This increases the likelyhood of participation from more space members.
• Showcase excellence. Share standout posts and breakthroughs in the Expo to motivate others and build collective pride. The expo is your ambsador to the outside world. Keep it nice and tidy. A weel groomed Expo can do wonders in terms of attracting more community members and partnerships.
• Organize events. Regularly host sprints, brainstorms, AMAs, or contests to energize your space and keep participation active.
• Fill in About pages. Keep About sections clear, concise, and up to date. They guide new users toward areas where help is needed.
• Keep docs and files tidy. A well-structured space helps contributors find the resources they need and avoids duplicated work. That means having a clear and concies structure of subspaces and activities. Archiving ones that are no longer in use. 
• Give credit. Always recognize authors, contributors, and sources — visibility builds trust and motivation.
• Engage in friendly competition. Inspire users to improve their work through light challenges, votes, or collaborative comparisons.
• Spot new talent. If you notice someone with potential, welcome them in. New voices keep the space fresh and growing.
• Build toward startup-level teams. A successful space often evolves into a real-world team. Support long-term collaboration and cohesion.
• Share great ideas and projects to other platforms/media. Even if you’re not an active contributor, you can still support the space by amplifying valuable content. Sharing the work of great teams in other networks and groups helps attract talent, visibility, and potential funding.