Netiquette

The main attraction of online forums is that they provide an opportunity for exchanging ideas, which, by definition, implies that the participants do not all share the same point of view! We must keep in mind that courtesy, on the Web as elsewhere, is always a must.

Netiquette is the set of rules of conduct that govern users’ behaviour on the Internet and is an integral part of the Terms of Use of the Shaping Our Destiny site. Before taking part in an online forum, it is important to familiarize yourself with proper netiquette. Users who fail to abide by these rules of conduct will be expelled.

1. The shapingourdestiny.com forum is not anonymous. Users are required to provide their first and last names when they register.

2. The forum is open to persons of all ages, races, religions, sexes, ethnic origins and sexual orientations.

3. Hateful, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist or uncouth remarks about anyone’s ethnic origin, religious affiliation or age group will not be posted.

4. The discussions are conducted in English. The use of other languages, apart from a few words here and there, is prohibited.

5. Since upper case characters are frequently used on the Internet to “speak loudly” or to shout, they may be interpreted as aggressive; therefore, your message must be written in lower case, with the exception of places where punctuation dictates the use of a capital letter.

6. Participants who use coarse language will be expelled.

7. Insulting, threatening or harassing users is prohibited.


8. Messages that bear no relation to the topic will not be posted.

9. Sending messages repeatedly hampers discussion and will not be tolerated.

10. Messages that turn into a dialogue or a private discussion between two individuals who talk to each other without regard for other participants will not be posted.

11. Including hyperlinks to other sites is permitted, provided that netiquette is complied with. However, shapingourdestiny.com bears no responsibility for the content of those sites.

12. Advertising in any form is prohibited in the shapingourdestiny.com forum. “Advertising” is defined as the attempt to sell a service or a product, to promote it, or to invite Web users to visit another site.

13. Usurping the identity of the shapingourdestiny.com forum administrator or a moderator with the intention of causing harm or misleading participants is a serious offence that will not be tolerated.

14. Desjardins reserves the right to close down the forum at any time, without advance notice.

15. Desjardins reserves the right to amend these rules of conduct (Netiquette) at any time, without advance notice.

16. Desjardins reserves the right not to post participants’ messages.

17. Desjardins is under no obligation to remove your messages from the Web should you ask it to do so. We remind you that by participating in the shapingourdestiny.com forum, you authorize Desjardins to post your comments and your name on the Web for an indefinite period of time. It also follows that your messages will be indexed by Internet search engines. We therefore invite you to think carefully about your messages, and about the consequences of posting them.