Welcome to Buzzy.
Buzzy is a digital space where people discuss ideas, disagree constructively, and treat others with respect.
These Guidelines are the short version of the standards we expect across Buzzy. Our Code of Conduct contains the full rules and moderation process, and our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information.
Individual Hives may also have additional rules suited to their community or purpose.
1. Protect privacy and pseudonymity
Buzzy is designed to let people participate without having to publicly attach their real-world identity to everything they say. That helps people speak more openly, share what they genuinely think and take part in sensitive or controversial discussions without unnecessary pressure or exposure.
Help protect that environment. .Do not reveal or try to uncover another participant's real-world identity. Do not connect someone's Buzzy account to their real name, workplace, social accounts or other identifying information.
Do not share personal information about other people. This includes things like contact details, addresses, private photographs, workplaces, educational details or other information that could expose someone outside the context in which they chose to participate.
Protect your own privacy too. Avoid posting information that identifies you unnecessarily, such as your full name, personal contact details, home address or links that clearly connect your Buzzy account to your real-world identity.
Keep private spaces private. Do not screenshot, quote or republish content from private Hives or private communications outside their intended audience.
Do not use information from elsewhere to piece together who a pseudonymous participant is. Respecting pseudonymity means not turning clues from Buzzy and other platforms into an identity investigation.
Moderators may remove or redact identifying or private information where reasonably necessary to protect someone's privacy, safety or pseudonymity.
2. Debate ideas, respect people
You do not need to agree with other people on Buzzy. In fact, disagreement is part of the point. But keep disagreement focused on ideas rather than attacking the person behind them.
Please:
- Be respectful, even when you strongly disagree.
- Do not harass, bully, threaten or intimidate other people.
- Do not use hate speech or target people because of their race, ethnicity, whakapapa, gender, sexuality, religion, disability or other personal characteristics.
- Respect different cultures and perspectives, including te reo Māori, tikanga and Māori identity.
- Avoid deliberately provoking, humiliating or shutting other people out of discussion.
- Criticism, including criticism of Buzzy, Hive administrators and moderators, is welcome when expressed constructively.
3. Participate honestly
Buzzy works when people participate in good faith.
Being mistaken, holding an unpopular opinion or using a disputed source is not automatically misconduct. We want people to be able to explore uncertain and controversial questions. The line is deliberate deception or manipulation—not ordinary disagreement.
Please do not:
- Create or use extra accounts to manipulate votes, results or conversations, evade restrictions or otherwise game Buzzy’s systems.
- Impersonate another person, organisation, moderator or public official.
- Fabricate evidence, deceptively manipulate media or deliberately misrepresent participation results.
- Spam discussions, flood conversations or deliberately derail them.
- Use automated tools or coordinated fake activity to game Buzzy's voting or analysis systems.
4. Keep Buzzy safe and constructive
Do not use Buzzy to threaten harm, facilitate serious illegal activity, distribute malicious material or post content that is clearly inappropriate for a 16+ community.
Different Hives exist for different purposes. Keep your contributions reasonably relevant to the Hive and conversation you are participating in. Follow any additional rules made clear by the Hive's administrators, provided they are consistent with Buzzy's baseline rules.
5. Report problems instead of escalating them
Please report concerns in good faith. Do not retaliate against people who make reports, publicly shame them or create additional accounts to evade moderation.
Depending on the situation, Hive moderators or Buzzy may respond with a reminder, warning, content removal, temporary restriction, removal from a Hive or—where necessary—account suspension or termination.
Moderation should be proportionate to the seriousness and context of what happened. More detail about enforcement and appeals is available in our Code of Conduct.
Thank you for helping build a thoughtful, safe and genuinely useful Buzzy community.
If you see something that appears to breach these Guidelines, use Buzzy's reporting tools where available, or contact: support@buzzyapp.co.nz
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