Last Modified: May 26, 2020

These guidelines will be updated and added to as needed. We want everybody to have fun and be safe while on Commaful, and we believe these content guidelines can help positively shape the site for the better.

If you see or experience anything in violation of the rules below or see any outstanding community behaviors you wish to applaud, please do not hesitate to email info@commaful.com. Also utilize the report and block features on Commaful. We will do everything we can to address the situation. Including specific information helps us identify the content in question. Screenshots, user names, story titles and links, etc. are very helpful and much appreciated!

Violation of these standards can result in one or more of the following: warnings, temporary or permanent suspension from all or parts of our platform, and disabling specific features.

Commaful is meant for you to be creative and express yourself in a variety of ways. Think of Commaful like a bookstore. You may not like every book or section in the bookstore, but we hope you’ll be open to all forms of art and expression, whether that’s in the form of a meme or poem or story. Utilize the interests page and the various topical tabs to help find the stories you want (and filter out the ones you don’t). You can also follow and unfollow certain creators to help further curate your experience.

Some of the best stories have come from when people have thought outside the box and tried things that had never been tried before on Commaful.

Storytelling is better when done together! Take part in contests, collaborations, and more! Set up your own events for writers. Work together to tell even better stories and make new friends!

Tags help your stories reach interested readers. Feel free to use as many relevant tags as you’d like, but make sure they are relevant.

If there are any strong sexual references or anything NSFW, make sure you use tag the story with NSFW. You must be 18 years or older to read or write anything that has any NSFW elements.

Do not raid tags by posting irrelevant, off-topic, provocative or abusive content while using tags.

This includes prompts and contests. Please make sure any posts you’re making for prompts and contests are actually relevant to the prompt or contest you’re submitting to.

We do not tolerate harassment & cyberbullying anywhere in our community. This may include:

• Abusive comments, hate speech, harassing messages - incessant, threatening, sexual or otherwise.
• Stories and comments expressing hate, encouraging violence, or otherwise putting down a person or group of people for any reason, including based on race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
• Creating stories or comments that mention other members in a hurtful light.
• Inciting violence or harassment towards anyone or any group on Commaful or on staff.

For more information on bullying:

• National Crime Prevention Center on Cyberbullying
• NetSmartz

There are certain subjects Commaful considers warranting special care when addressing. If you come across anything you think is disturbing or inappropriate, please report and email us the story.

While some level of violence or sexual reference is okay on Commaful, anything graphic, promoting violence, rape, or pornographic in nature is strictly prohibited on Commaful. Nudity is also prohibited on Commaful both on profile pictures and in stories.

We know that there are times when people might want to use nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity. We do not permit images containing nudity or sexual activity. We do not accept any form of genitalia, nipples, suggestive stances/poses in underwear, semi nudity, graphic self harm images or pornography.

Self harm should never be encouraged on the site, in the comments, messages, or stories. This is an important issue and needs to be taken seriously. Here are a few resources to get help if you or somebody you know is in need:

• National Suicide Prevention Hotline (USA): 1-800-273-8255
• IASP Crisis Centre (an international directory)

Writers put a lot of time and effort into crafting stories. Please do not reuse other people’s art or written text without permission. Always credit authors and artists.

Stories must have some sort of informational or entertainment value directly on Commaful. This means that posting a title and a link to something is not okay. A post just begging for reactions, follows, or comments is not okay. Linking or asking for a follow at the end of a post that is informational or entertaining is okay when done in a tasteful manner, but the content itself must be serving the purpose of information or entertainment.

For example, if you have a new book you published, feel free to post something about it on Commaful! We want to help you celebrate that! But don’t just post “Buy my book” and drop a link. Share a snippet. Share one of the poems. Talk about the journey you went through publishing.

Commaful is not meant for promoting goods or services. Spam involves, but is not limited to, promoting external downloads, websites, apps, etc. via stories, comments, or messages. Repeat and excessive contact via comments, messages, or stories promoting anything, including Commaful stories, is considered spam. Do not message people who you do not know to follow you. Reach out to people tastefully if you’re going to reach out. Don’t beg for likes, follows, etc.

The way to get the most out of the Commaful community is to be kind and supportive of one another. See a creator you like? Let them know how much their works mean to you. See somebody in need of encouragement? Encourage them.

Be nice. Ask yourself if you’d want your future self to see what you’re saying or sharing. Ask yourself how you’d feel if the same things were said to you. Let’s lift each other up.

Commaful is a place that thrives on feedback. We improve the site from your feedback. We as writers improve from feedback on our writing.

If you have feedback on a story, rule, feature, or bug, please be respectful and provide constructive feedback. We encourage everyone to support the stories they love by sharing them and providing constructive comments.

Constructive comments are welcomed and even celebrated, as long as they are given in a respectful manner. You may not agree with everything you read. You may not like everything you like, but please be respectful to all the diverse ideas on the platform.
Examples of feedback that is not constructive:

• Did you ever learn grammar in elementary school?
• This is stupid
• You're not a real writer
• I did not like it

Examples of feedback that is constructive:

• I didn’t quite understand the ending, I think some clarity would help the story a lot!
• There were a lot of characters with similar names and I got a little confused in the middle
• The rhyme scheme was good, but I think the pacing was a bit hard to follow. Have you looked at iambic pentameter?

Please, please use the block button. If there are people who are giving you troubles, arguing with you, or bothering you in any way, just block! Blocking can help prevent many issues. If you feel the person is breaking the community guidelines, also please report them and email info@commaful.com with any relevant information.

Be mindful that anything you share online can be public. People from Commaful come from all around the world and from different backgrounds. Share with the knowledge in mind.

Revealing personal information about anybody on Commaful, including staff, community members, creators, readers, such as names, email addresses, private chats, or other social media accounts without their consent is strictly prohibited. Same goes for impersonating or pretending to be a Commaful staff member.

Stealing, revealing or blackmailing personal information - including stealing or withholding account information from its original owner, exposing where a member lives, works or other relevant information that may compromise their safety or privacy, are all strictly prohibited.

Share your account login details at your own risk. If issues, such as usernames being stolen, occur because another user had access to your account we will not be able to assist you. Commaful staff will never need your password for any reason. Never give this out.

Likes and reactions are for when people want to support your story or like what you’ve shared. Do not trade likes with other users for mutual benefit or in an effort to “game the system.”

Do not ask for likes or reactions within posts, comments, messages, or anywhere. Some example of what not to do:

• Using multiple accounts or any software to increase or decrease likes or reactions
• Asking people to like or react to stories both on Commaful or on social media

Feel free to ask friends to check out your story or support you in a contest, but do not explicitly ask for likes or reactions.
Cheating or attempting to manipulate the system will result in your account being banned.

Please do not pretend to be somebody else. Do not impersonate Commaful staff or anybody in the community.

Similarly, do not use other people’s photos on your accounts or send fake or altered screenshots. This guideline is intended to help build trust within the community.

Any hint of illegal activity on Commaful will result in an immediate ban. This can include:

• Support or encouragement of terrorism or hate groups
• Incitement or encouragement of violence
• Anything that sexually exploits minors
• Any sort of fraudulent activity, including obtaining or attempting to obtain financial advantage or private information

We want Commaful to be a fun and safe place for people to be creative. We are always blown away by the amazing stories and ideas shared across the platform and hope these guidelines will help nurture and foster that spirit. We are open to your suggestions and ideas for how to better foster a positive creative environment. Please feel free to email info@commaful.com with any ideas, questions, or suggestions!