Help Centre

Facebook Group

Group Guidelines

What are the guidelines for your Facebook group?

To ensure things run smoothly within the North Shore Mums Facebook group, the group is actively monitored by a team of moderators.

How do I report a post?

If you see any posts that do not adhere to the guidelines, please report it via the ‘Report To Admin’ option (there is a small down arrow to the right of the post).

This is the quickest & most efficient way of notifying the moderators team, and action will be taken as soon as we see the report.

Why was my post not approved or removed?

If you’ve had a post removed, it is most likely because it doesn’t adhere to the Group Guidelines below. Please don’t be personally offended. We do it to ensure North Shore Mums remains a positive place to chat.

The North Shore Mums moderating team will delete posts and comments and potentially remove members from the group who breach these guidelines.

Be nice! Treat people as you would in the ‘real world’

Some topics can be controversial, so when posting or responding to a post, please be respectful of people’s opinions or methods, especially if they differ from yours. There’s no need to be rude, sarcastic or nasty. Negativity simply does not have a place in our online community!

Do not use North Shore Mums to criticise other individuals through ‘rants’ or ‘to the mum who…’ type posts. If you witness an event in the ‘real world’ that is concerning, rather than posting your shock/dismay to the Facebook group, we encourage you to first report it to the proper authorities to deal with (for example, security guards, police).

Don’t complain about businesses

Please don’t use North Shore Mums to complain about products, local businesses, or companies. If you’ve had a bad experience with a company, contact the company directly so they have the opportunity to resolve the issue. Complaining in a public forum like North Shore Mums can have devastating consequences for a business and only show one side of the story.

North Shore Mums will delete negative comments when they are reported but will not be held accountable for any such comments made by members.

Business Posts

Our Facebook group is a place for mums to connect, not for businesses to self-promote! If you run a business that targets mums, please ensure you read the rules around business posts in the group. You also might want to consider advertising on our website, as over 100,000 local parents and carers visit every month.

1. Want to suggest yourself as a supplier for a product or service?

If a member is asking for recommendations for a local business, you are only allowed to suggest your own business if:

You advertise on the North Shore Mums website. We have implemented this policy to give more support to the businesses that support our community and
It is a current post (posts that have been active in the last 24 hours). Please don’t search for older posts and comment on them.

Contain your response to just one comment, with all the information in that – response, contact details and image.

2. Business Hour

If you advertise on our website, you are also welcome to take advantage of Business Hour, which is held in our Facebook Group on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month from 8 to 9 p.m.

3. Business recommendations

To ensure that any recommendations made in the group are trustworthy and genuine, you can only recommend a business if you have personally used it and if you do not have a personal (friend or family) or business relationship (employee, contractor, networking group) with that business.

If it becomes obvious that a member is always recommending a business, these posts will be deleted, and the member will be warned. If we are informed that any member receives financial compensation for making a recommendation, we will remove them without warning. If you are aware of any members who are recommending businesses with whom they have a personal or professional relationship or receive rewards or incentives, please contact us.

If you’ve had an incredible experience with a local business and want to give them an endorsement or recommendation to the group, you are welcome to do so during Business Hour (1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, 8-9pm). We contain it Business Hour, as the admin can't verify whether it is a genuine, unprompted recommendation from a new client or someone who is affiliated with the business and looking to promote themselves. Also, check to see if the company has a listing in the Directory and leave them a testimonial there!

4. Multi-level Marketing Companies

Members who work for Multi-Level Marketing companies (such as Isagenix, Arbonne, Herbalife, Avon etc) are not permitted to promote or sell their products or company in response to posts, or to send unsolicited private messages to members.

5. Other policies

Discreet business posts are not allowed. This includes posting photos of something you are proud of but are in the business of selling, it includes thank you to those that use your product or service and it may include asking people’s opinions about something you sell.
Business ‘baiting’ or research posts are not allowed – such as questions about how to market your business, how much you should charge for your services, whether people would be interested in your service.
If you run a blog or website, you are not permitted to share links or copy and paste excerpts from articles in the group.

Don’t send Unsolicited Private Messages

Members are not allowed to send unsolicited private messages to other members of North Shore Mums. Members who directly contact people without being invited, will be removed from the group without warning. If you receive unsolicited messages, please get in touch with us with the details.

Don’t share content

North Shore Mums is a supportive and closed community where members share personal information. If a member is using information gleaned from our Facebook group
to ridicule members or damage the group's reputation (be it on Facebook, in another group or a blog/website), they will  be removed.

Defamation

Any member who defames North Shore Mums will be removed from the group immediately, and legal action may be sought. Defamation occurs when a person publishes information about another person, group of people or small company that damages their reputation or image.

Before you post a comment on social media, you should consider the following:

Information travels quickly online.
Comments can be difficult to retract. Remember that others can share your posts and screenshot them.
Is what you’re saying truthful and accurate? Do you have evidence to support what you’re saying?
If you’re posting your opinion, use opinion-based language (e.g. “I believe that…”) and make sure that opinion is based on facts you can establish are true.
Think of yourself as an editor of a newspaper because you will be just as liable if you defame someone on social media.

Advice about medical conditions does not replace a professional diagnosis

If you post a medical question to the group, please be mindful that the responses given are based on other people’s personal experiences. While getting lots of opinions and suggestions is helpful, please note that it should never replace speaking to a doctor or healthcare professional.

Below is a list of local health services that can provide qualified advice and care:

GP: See your Doctor (or qualified specialist) if you have general medical concerns. The North Shore Mums Directory lists many medical and health professionals.
National Home Doctor Service: For after-hours home visits by a GP. This is a BULK BILLED service, as long as you have a valid Medicare Card. Doctors on the road from 6pm weeknights, 12 noon Saturday, all day Sunday and public holidays. Phone: 13 7425 (13-SICK).
Health Direct: If you want immediate health advice and information over the phone. Available 24 hours. Phone: 1800 022 222.
Poisons Information Centre: If you have questions about something you ingested, call the professionally staffed Poisons Information Centre at 13 11 26.
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline – For general advice and counselling about pregnancy, childbirth and parenting in the first year. Phone: 1800 882 436
Emergency – For serious illness or injury that is critical and requires urgent attention, call triple zero (000) for an ambulance or go to the emergency department of your local hospital. Phone: 000.

North Shore Mums accepts no responsibility for the advice given by members.

No posts about Vaccinations

Vaccinating is an inflammatory subject that always escalates quickly. If you have any immunisation questions, we strongly encourage members to consult a qualified medical professional. Credible information can also be found on the Australian Government’s Department of Health website.

Consider putting the ‘pic in comments’

When posting a photo, please be aware that some members might be sensitive to images (stress, anxiety, phobias). If photos are needed to illustrate your post, please include a ‘pic in comments’ blurb, so the image can only be seen if people click the post. This might consist of anything creepy or crawly, bleeding or oozing, or anything that has been used in a horror movie (for example: clowns, heights and dead animals).

Don’t post personal information

For your safety, please do not post personal contact details (email, phone, address) or personal information like your children's names or what school or childcare they attend. Publishing personal information could bring unwanted danger.

Journalist code of conduct

If you are a blogger, writer or journalist, it is not acceptable to use posts from the Facebook group for the basis of an article. This applies to both professional and amateur writers. If you’d like to write a story, you must request permission by contacting us. If approved, you must also obtain permission from the members involved before using quotes from the group. Names should never be used unless written permission has been given. Journalists who do not respect people’s privacy rights will be removed from the group immediately.

Don’t post items for sale

North Shore Mums isn’t a selling group, but plenty of groups are specifically for this! Try:

And finally, posts about the following are not allowed:

Event Listings – if you want to let the community know about an event you are organising, list it in our What’s On section. You can share the link to the North Shore Mums listing in the group as soon as it's published.
Positions Vacant – if you are looking to fill a role that would suit a local mum, you can advertise with one of our Newletter & Facebook packages.
Market Research or other research projects (such as school, university or business) – if you want to get respondents, our Newsletter & Facebook packages are effective.
Fundraising: As we are unable to verify the legitimacy of any requests for donations, we do not allow posts asking for money or goods donations.
Real Estate – selling, renting, house sitting or looking for property
Pet sitting - requests or offers
Babysitting/Nanny – looking for work or looking for a sitter. Find out how to find a babysitter or nanny on the North Shore here.
Trading Cards
Voting
Ingestible Weight-Loss Products – recommendations for ingestible weight-loss products (such as milkshakes, supplements and tablets) from network marketing companies.

If you see anything that violates the guidelines, please let us know by clicking the ‘Report post to group admins’ arrow (located at the top right corner of the post). It’s the quickest and easiest way to alert the team, and one of us will respond quickly.