Online Conduct
The online code
of conduct
The forums, Crews, Rally Point, and the Overland Bound One app are a virtual rendezvous for adventure seekers who like to learn, share, and talk about overlanding. We aim to be a community that shares information freely and helps each other out.
What This Covers
How we behave online, in Overland Bound spaces both here on the site and out in the wild-wild west of social media and YouTube. How we behave on the land is a separate conversation, and an important one. See our land use and stewardship principles.
The Short Version
Four things, and the rest is detail
Here is how you help us keep this a place worth showing up to.
We are happy to have you here
We look forward to your contributions to the community and to the overland conversation.
Be civilized, do not engage trolls
We remove posts and comments intended to bring the conversation down with overt negativity, off-topic ranting, and language meant to target a group or an individual.
Tell us what you think
Like something, don’t like something? We listen to all feedback, positive and negative, and we appreciate the input. Use the contact form at the end of this page to reach our community team directly.
Help the moderators, be courteous to them
It is a small crew of folks who have been around these parts a long time, and they work to keep the energy and culture positively focused on overlanding. If your comment or thread does not contribute to that, our team will take action.
Moderators may remove anything deemed inappropriate or in violation of this Code.
Removals and Bans
What gets removed, and what gets you banned
Spam
Zero tolerance. It gets deleted whether it came from a human or a bot.
Self-promotion and blatant advertising of relevant or non-relevant products across multiple threads counts as spam. Promoting your company and its products or events, your personal brand, your YouTube channel, or other projects across multiple Overland Bound threads or Crews will be treated as spam.
By all means, share your adventures with your crew. But please do not share across seven forum threads asking everyone to subscribe to your channel.
Your own YouTube, blog, or social accounts
Posts are welcome, as long as they do not solicit likes, shares, or subscriptions, and do not promote communities outside Overland Bound. See the advertising rule.
Advertising
Overland Bound spaces are advertisement free. Membership does not grant promotional access to other members for marketing or sales purposes. We take this seriously.
This includes, but is not limited to: linking, sending traffic through, using a watermark with your business name on photos, or giving a call to action for any service or business you are affiliated with. It also includes consistently recommending a friend’s business.
If you are asked to stop, please stop.
Personal attacks
Personal attacks and insults are unnecessary. If a conversation turns into name-calling and inflammatory language, our moderators will step in and end it.
Comments on appearance, and hate speech
Keep it focused on the conversation at hand. If you go anywhere near personal attacks or hate speech, we will remove your post.
Racism, sexism, and other discrimination
Making negative, broad generalizations about entire classes of people will not work here. Posts will be removed, and repeat occurrences will get you banned.
Trolling
One word describing all sorts of poor online behavior. We take steps to eliminate trolls from the conversation immediately.
If you are banned for trolling, we encourage you to self-reflect on what is really upsetting you, because it is probably not overlanding or online forums.
Content that is not safe for work
Our spaces are PG. Harsh language, porn, gore, all a no go. We reserve the right to remove content we deem unacceptable.
Doxxing
Revealing someone’s personal information will get you booted quickly. It is deplorable.
Illegal activity
No links to illegal gear, weapons, drugs, or sites promoting illegal activity.
No posting of events or activities that blatantly and willfully encourage or facilitate the destruction of public land, or trespassing on private land. This is not a small thing to us. See our land use and stewardship principles.
Multiple accounts and throwaway emails
We are here to support people who want to discuss, learn, and share about overlanding. One account per person, and no burner emails. Accounts created to impersonate or mock another person will be banned.
Usernames and profile pictures
No profanity, harsh language, or hate language. Any variation of “Overland Bound” is reserved for Overland Bound staff. Company logos and company names are not allowed.
Reporting
Report it, do not engage
Engaging with a troll gives them what they came for, and it makes the thread harder for our moderators to clean up.
If you see any of the above, report it. Do not reply, do not engage. Just hit the report button on the post. Our team will jump in and take action.
- OneUse the report button on the post, comment, or profile.
- TwoLeave the thread alone. Replying pulls more people in.
- ThreeA moderator reviews it and takes action from there.
Serious Matters
Some things do not belong in a report queue
For any of the following, hit the report button and email us directly.
- Threats of any kind
- Harassment that follows someone off the platform
- Sexual content involving minors
- A member you believe is prohibited from using the Platform under our Terms of Service
Email support@overlandbound.com and tell us what happened. Those come straight to our team.
Moderation
What happens when you break a rule
Most of the time, moderation looks like this. We usually work through the steps in order, because most people who cross a line did not mean to and correct course once they know.
1
A Quiet Word
A moderator removes the post and tells you why.
2
A Formal Warning
Same behavior again, and it goes on the record.
3
A Temporary Suspension
A cooling-off period.
4
Removal
For repeated violations after warning.
Some things skip the ladder entirely. Doxxing, threats, hate speech, spam operations, and impersonation can get you removed on the first occurrence, without warning.
Our Terms of Service govern what we are permitted to do; this section describes what we typically do.
Common Questions
Working with the moderators
A question about something a moderator did
We are happy to talk it through privately. Submit your question using the contact form below and someone from our community team will help sort it out.
How to help the moderators
Our moderators work to protect the community and the conversation. You can help by flagging inappropriate comments and threads, and if you get a warning for a violation of this Code, by making the change they have asked for.
How to become a moderator
Moderators are folks who have been around a while and have consistently contributed to the community and the culture. There is no formal vetting process. If you are interested: be active, answer questions, report with good reason, and help newcomers settle in.
The world can always use more helpful and nice people.
Communication outside Overland Bound
Overland Bound does not monitor, and is not responsible for, members using communication platforms outside our own: group texts, messaging apps, chat servers, or social networks not operated by us.
Crews exists so your group has a place to plan and talk inside Overland Bound, where this Code applies and our moderators can help. What happens elsewhere is outside our reach.
Why the Rules
A meeting point worth protecting
You are free to say whatever you like and act however you like outside the forums, but we ask that while you are in our network, the conversation stays focused on overlanding.
Overland Bound is a virtual meeting spot for planning trips, asking questions, and contributing to the community. We are made up of folks from all walks of life and every skill level. We expect members, friends, and guests to show up and be courteous.
That does not mean you cannot disagree with Overland Bound, with this Code, or with each other. We listen to everyone, including our harshest critics.
We ask that the discussion stays civilized, stays solution oriented, and does not dissolve into a flamewar.
We will protect this meeting point from negativity, trolling, and conversations that detract from the overlanding conversation.
Terms of Service
Plain english here, binding terms there
This Code is the plain-English version of how we expect people to behave. Our Terms of Service are the binding agreement, and Section 7 covers most of the same ground in contract language.
This page explains what the rules mean in practice and why they exist.
Where this Code and the Terms of Service differ, the Terms of Service control.
Please reach out with questions, feedback about this Code, and feature requests. We hope you enjoy your time here, learn a thing or two, and meet some down-to-earth folks.
Do not forget to leave it better than you found it. And as always,
Outfit & Explore
The Overland Bound Team