Community guidelines

The Discussion Boards are a moderated, inclusive place to ask for advice or talk about anything that's on your mind. As well as Discussion Boards, we also run Support Groups Sunday-Friday, and there’s also lots of supportive content on our social media channels (Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook).

We are mainly made up of 13-25 year olds. If you're under 13 or older than 25, we might suggest you use a more appropriate support service like Childline (for under 19's) or Mind’s online community (for adults).

Please remember, whilst your Community comments and posts can only be replied to by fellow Community members (whose accounts have been approved by our Staff Team), because The Mix’s Discussion Boards are part of our publicly available website, any content you post to Community is automatically accessible to all members of the public, which will include employers, government officials, emergency services, professionals etc.

Our Community gives you spaces to connect with others who may be going through similar experiences. When using the Community, try your best to support other members and work as a group. When everyone is supporting each other, it can make a big difference to someone's day.

Multiple accounts are not permitted in our Community spaces. We will not approve second accounts on the Discussion Boards and we ask that you only use one account in the Support Groups. This is so that we can safeguard effectively, ensure our data is accurate and so it is clear who you are chatting to.

A mixture of staff and moderators look after the Community to ensure it remains safe and that everyone is following the Community guidelines. If you see another member share something that doesn't follow the Community guidelines, please report the post and then step back from the situation- we won’t ever inform them who reported their posts.

The Community is generally moderated by a mixture of staff and volunteers between 9am - 5pm (and for evening Support Groups 8pm-9.30pm). Their role is to keep the Community safe and welcoming for everyone.

If you need urgent support please call 999 or find your nearest A&E; or contact a crisis service such as our Shout, Samaritans, or Papyrus.

Suicidal thoughts
You can share that you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts generally, but please avoid sharing details that could cause the Community to worry for your safety (e.g. that you've written a suicide note or made a specific plan).

If you have a plan to end your life or feel unsafe right now, the community isn’t set up to support you. If you need urgent help, the moderator will suggest contacting specialist crisis services such as our sister service Shout, or Samaritans, or Papyrus.

If you share details about a plan to end your life, your post will be hidden and The Mix may contact emergency services to keep you safe. You can read more about when we might contact emergency services in our Privacy policy.

When discussing suicidal thoughts or past experiences, we ask you to avoid sharing methods (such as how you tried to end your life) as these details can be triggering for others to read. If mentioned, these details will be hidden from your post.

Self-harm
When discussing self-harm, it’s best to stick to the general term ‘self-harm’. More specific language (e.g. where or how you’ve harmed yourself) can lead to other members feeling triggered. If mentioned, these details will be hidden from your post.

If you send a picture of yourself where healed self-harm scars are visible, but not the main focus of the picture, then this is within our guidelines. For example, sharing a photo of your outfit where scars are visible would be within our guidelines.

Eating behaviours
When discussing eating behaviours, it’s okay to say you overeat or restrict, or to share a formal diagnosis. Please avoid discussing specific details, such as:

- Methods of purging
- Methods of reducing appetite
- How much or what you've consumed
- Calories and nutritional info
- Body measurements
- Detailed accounts of exercise

For specialist support related to eating disorders you can contact Beat

Sex
Discussions around sex/your feelings and emotions about sex are welcome, however details around specific sexual acts or using language which could be deemed pornographic is not within our guidelines.

Any comments made about sex should focus on your personal feelings / emotions about sex, rather than graphic descriptions or details of specific sexual acts.

Substances
You must not use the community if you’re impaired by alcohol or illegal drugs. This helps keep the space safe and supportive for everyone.

Alcohol
It’s okay to talk about alcohol, but please avoid mentioning specific amounts you have consumed or encouraging heavy or irresponsible drinking.

We encourage conversations that promote safe and responsible drinking. Posts that go beyond this may be edited or removed.

Drugs and Medication:
If you would like to discuss drugs or medication, please avoid sharing dosages. This is to make sure people don’t self-medicate based on advice from the Community.

If you've overdosed, call 999 or visit your closest A&E;. If you share that you’ve recently overdosed, The Mix may contact emergency services to keep you safe. You can read more about when we might contact emergency services in our Privacy policy.

The general rule is 'what's said on The Mix stays on The Mix’. It’s important to respect the Community’s confidentiality and not repeat what other Mixers share outside of this space.

You are not permitted to take screenshots of / copy-and-paste comments from The Mix’s Live Group Chats or Discussion Boards, as this breaches the confidentiality of your fellow Community members.

If we believe your life is at immediate risk or you might harm somebody else, we may widen your circle of confidentiality to include the emergency services. If there is no immediate harm or risk, but there is a possible long term impact, then we may contact other services such as 101, your social worker or someone else directly involved in your care. We will always try to tell you if we decide to do this but there could be times where this isn’t possible. If we contact emergency services for you, you may also be temporarily removed from the Community. There are a few reasons for this:

- To ensure you’re getting the best support for your situation
- We’re not trained to support you in crisis
- Other members may feel pressured to keep you safe

You can read more about this in our Privacy policy.

Anonymity
Everyone has the right to remain anonymous when using The Mix. If a member has decided to be anonymous, please be respectful of their decision and protect their privacy .

If you would like to change your username, please get in contact with the Community team by emailing [email protected] or DMing us on the Discussion Boards and we will change it for you. If someone does change their username, please only refer to them by their current username.

Please also only refer to other members by the username they have in that space. For example, if a member has a different username on the Discussion Boards than in the Support Groups, please make sure you use the correct username unless agreed with the member.

When mentioning people outside of The Mix, please respect their right to be anonymous by not using identifiable information such as their name. For example, you can refer to them as “person A” or “my friend S”.

Being safe online
Whether or not you want to be completely anonymous, keep in mind The Mix community is an anonymous space that anyone can join. That means understanding and practicing online safety is very important. Be careful not to share personal or contact details such as (but not limited to):

- Your full name
- Physical address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Discord name or server invites
- Other social media handles

It’s okay to share photos of yourself or your pets, but it’s important not to share photos of anyone else. Once you post something online, there's no way to stop someone saving it, so be careful about what you share. If you’re interacting with The Mix on social media, a good general rule is to keep your profile private, avoid sharing personal information and anything that could identify you.

If you’re unsure if your post fits within the guidelines, then please contact the Community Team.

If you see anything worrying or unsafe when using social media, please report this on the social media platform you are using (read more about how to do this on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook & YouTube).

The Mix Community is a safe space for people from all backgrounds and all walks of life. We’re here for everyone and this can be your safe space too.

Please respect the different ways other members choose to identify and try to use the correct pronouns when referring to them (top tip: you can find pronouns on profile pages).

Hate Speech and Discrimination
Hate speech, discrimination, personal attacks or harassment of any kind are not permitted.

Hate speech and discrimination will not be tolerated. This includes content that attacks or demeans a group based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics.

Posts that spread stereotypes, slurs, or dehumanising language will be removed, and users may receive warnings or bans depending on severity, in some cases we may need to break confidentiality.

Violent Content
Inciting, providing instructions or detailing descriptions of violent acts is not permitted towards humans or animals.

Any description or details which incites dangerous stunts or challenges is not within our guidelines.

Our DMs are to be used for discussing tech issues with the team, assessing safety and any enquiries you may wish to ask the team away from public spaces. We’re unable to provide 1:1 support in DM spaces so we encourage you to use the Community spaces to get support from other members. As a team, we may DM you to get extra clarity in certain situations but cannot provide extensive support in DMs.

We try to reply within 5 days of receiving a DM and encourage you to hold this response time in mind.

If you are ever unsure about whether something breaks guidelines in our spaces, then please report it. You can report Discussion Board posts by clicking the ‘report’ button found on the bottom right-hand side of each post. You can also DM us to ask whether something is appropriate to be posted and, where we are able to, we can provide the reasoning for this decision if needed.

You can contact the community team by:
- Emailing [email protected]

- Sending a DM to @TheMix on the Discussion Boards