Community Guidelines and Terms of Use

jso_admin

Welcome to the Just Starting Out Community.

We want this to be a friendly, useful and supportive place where members can ask questions, share experiences and learn from one another.

These guidelines are a practical summary of the standards we expect. Your use of the community is also subject to our full Community Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

1. Treat people with respect

Healthy disagreement is welcome; hostility is not.

Please do not:

Harass, threaten, bully or intimidate anyone
Use discriminatory, hateful or deliberately offensive language
Make personal attacks or repeatedly provoke other members
Encourage others to target or ridicule somebody
Post sexually explicit, violent or otherwise inappropriate material

Criticise the idea, not the person behind it.

2. Be honest and constructive

Share information in good faith and make it clear when something is your opinion or personal experience.

Do not:

Impersonate another person or business
Misrepresent your qualifications, experience or professional status
Post fabricated reviews, testimonials or opportunities
Deliberately spread false or misleading information
Conceal a commercial connection when recommending a product or service

Advice shared by community members should not be treated as professional legal, financial, medical or safety advice. Where appropriate, consult a suitably qualified professional.

3. Keep promotion appropriate

We want members to talk about their businesses, but the community must not become a wall of adverts.

Please:

Only promote services in categories where promotion is permitted
Keep recommendations relevant to the discussion
Disclose referral links, commissions or other commercial interests
Avoid repeatedly posting the same promotional content
Respect members who do not wish to be contacted

Spam, lead harvesting, unsolicited sales messages and aggressive self-promotion may be removed.

4. Protect privacy and confidentiality

Never publish somebody else’s personal or confidential information without their permission.

This includes:

Home addresses, telephone numbers and personal email addresses
Private messages or correspondence
Customer details, documents or photographs
Financial, medical or safeguarding information
Information that could identify a vulnerable person

Please do not use the community to publicise an individual dispute or encourage action against another person or business. Contact Just Starting Out Support if you need help resolving a concern.

5. Keep it legal and safe

Do not use the community to:

Encourage illegal, fraudulent or dangerous activity
Request or offer work that you are not legally permitted or appropriately qualified to undertake
Circumvent professional, licensing or safety requirements
Exploit, groom or endanger a child or vulnerable adult
Share malicious software or attempt to compromise another member’s account

If you believe someone is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services. You can also find further information in our Safeguarding Policy.

6. Only share content you are entitled to use

You remain responsible for anything you post. Only upload text, images, documents or other material that you created or have permission to share.

Do not copy another person’s work, reveal confidential business information or use the community to infringe intellectual-property rights.

7. Help us keep discussions useful

Please post in the most relevant category, use clear topic titles and check whether your question has already been answered.

Avoid deliberately disruptive behaviour, repeated duplicate posts or taking discussions significantly off topic.

Reporting a concern

If you see something that may breach these guidelines, please use the report option rather than confronting the member or starting a public dispute.

Do not include sensitive information in a public post. For confidential, safeguarding or account-related concerns, follow the instructions in the appropriate section below.

Moderation

To protect the community, the Just Starting Out team may:

Edit, move, hide, lock or remove content
Ask a member to change their behaviour
Issue a warning
Temporarily restrict an account
Suspend or permanently remove a member

We will consider the seriousness, context and frequency of any breach. Serious safety, safeguarding, fraudulent or abusive behaviour may result in immediate action without a prior warning.

These guidelines may be updated as the community develops. Significant changes will be announced in this category.

Last updated: 3rd August 2026

Related policies

Thank you for helping us build a community where people can learn, contribute and grow without having to wade through hostility, spam or somebody’s revolutionary cryptocurrency opportunity.

The Just Starting Out Team