Community guidelines

This research community is an online space designed for you to interact with us and with each other. We hope that you will take part in the discussions, surveys and polls. Before you get involved, we kindly ask that you follow these simple guidelines to make sure the United Utilities In The Flow Online Community remains an inclusive and safe place for everyone.

Please remember that every time you use the In The Flow Online Community, you need to abide by our community guidelines as set out below. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact intheflow@explainonline.co.uk.

Age restriction

You need to be above the age of 18 years old to be a member of the In The Flow community.

Definitions

“We”, “us” and “our” refers to United Utilities and Explain Research.

“Postings” means all information, data, artwork, text, photographs, videos, messages and any other material which you or any other member posts on or uploads to the In The Flow Online Community.

“You”, “your” and “yours” refers to you, the person using the In The Flow Online Community.

Moderating comments and posts

The In The Flow Online Community will be moderated by the team at Explain Market Research during their business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm). All comments will be moderated, to make sure that everyone gets the best possible experience when interacting on the In The Flow Online Community.

All comments and posts will be reviewed as soon as possible during working hours, and those made on a weekend or outside of office hours will be reviewed during the next working day. If any In The Flow Online Community member chooses not to adhere to the guidelines, that member will be contacted via email, their comments may be deleted, and they could risk being banned from the In The Flow Online Community.

Posting comments and engaging with others

We strongly encourage you to be open and honest in your comments. We want you to share your opinions, whether they are positive or negative. Try to follow up your discussion threads and comments where appropriate and engage with other members who respond to you.

Posting in the right area

Posting in the right areas of the In The Flow Online Community will make it easier for others to respond to your comments. Carefully choose which ‘Discussion’ you post in.

When posting a comment, please be aware that the community is designed as a space for you to share your experiences, ideas, and opinions. If you have a question, query or complaint about anything to do with your United Utilities account you can find contact details for United Utilities here.

Respecting each other

All comments, whether positive or negative are welcomed on the In The Flow Online Community. However, we do ask that all members respect each other and each other’s opinions. Any language that is insulting towards others on this community or elsewhere is unacceptable. This includes abusive or offensive comments that degrade race, religion, gender, age or abilities. We also politely ask you not to swear in your posts.

Please try not to react or respond to deliberately inflammatory messages. If you feel it necessary to report a post, you can do so by contacting intheflow@explainonline.co.uk

Posting standards

Any Posts or links containing inappropriate, profane, defamatory or illegal material, or anything that would constitute a violation of these guidelines or Terms and Conditions will be deleted.

As a general guide, please don’t post any of the following:

• Sexually explicit, racist, threatening, rude, or abusive comments
• Pornographic language, material, or images
• Comments encouraging illegal activity or violence
• Comments about religion or politics
• Derogatory or threatening personal comments
• Posting that might harm or bring United Utilities into disrepute
• Anything likely to identify an individual (personal data)
• Any links to a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account or similar online footprint
• Spam (see below)
• Links to images

Explain will contact you and remove any Postings that are deemed not to meet community guidelines.

Members can flag anything inappropriate to the moderator by contacting intheflow@explainonline.co.uk

Plain English

Please use plain English so that other members can understand your comments.

Accuracy

The experiences, ideas and opinions posted on the In The Flow Online Community are those of individual members. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of information posted by community members.

People who work at United Utilities may participate in conversations and provide accurate information and answers to questions as needed. You will be able to see who these people are as they will have a crown above their profile picture.

Protect your privacy

We recommend that you refrain from posting anything that would be likely to identify you or anyone else as an individual, including full names, addresses, home or mobile phone numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, copies of private emails or messages, and any private images of people or homes.

We advise against posting links to your or anyone else’s blog, Facebook page, Twitter account or similar online footprint.

In the interests of protecting your privacy all members have usernames. You are free to choose whatever you like. When choosing your username please remember that all other members in the In The Flow Online Community will see this when you post comments, unless you choose to post anonymously. Please do not use your email address as a username.

When selecting your member profile picture, be mindful that this can be seen by all other members in the In The Flow Online Community. Please do not use a picture that is identifiable or that goes against the aforementioned ‘Posting standards’. Community member profile pictures can be copied (via right clicking on the image and copying). We would recommend that when uploading a profile picture, you do not use any personal or current images from different platforms.

No commercial activity or advertising

The In The Flow Online Community may not be used for commercial activity. Promoting, commenting on or linking to any commercial activity is not allowed.

Posted comments or links to products, services, commercial marketing, advertising, or other such sites including gambling, trading and bidding websites (e.g. eBay) will be removed.

Viruses

Members are not permitted to cause harm to the community by introducing viruses.

Be a legitimate user

We expect you to be a legitimate user and ask you to not:

• Use an alias or create more than one account
• Use proxy servers (e.g. layeredtech, ev1servers and others)
• Allow others to use your account
• Use another person’s account

No spam

If you post the same message multiple times across the In The Flow Online Community, they will be removed by the moderators. Please post your message in the most appropriate section of the In The Flow Online Community for your topic.

Posting any spam, such as advertisements, promotions, junk mail, chain letters, or any other commercial solicitation, is not allowed on the In The Flow Online Community.

What should I do if I find something offensive or inappropriate?

If you see anything on the In The Flow Online Community you think shouldn’t be there you can report the post to a moderator by contacting intheflow@explainonline.co.uk. The moderation team at Explain Market Research will look into this and take appropriate action.

Thank you, we hope you enjoy the In The Flow Online Community.