Safety Guidelines & Rules

WINKSITE RULES

Winksite is place for you to create, connect and interact. We strive to create a friendly, safe and authentic environment for you to express yourself freely and frequently. If your goal is to be disruptive, abusive or in appropriate, this is not the right site for you. The guidelines below will help ensure that you, and other members, have an enjoyable and safe experience on Winksite.

1. Members may not use Winksite for commercial purposes. Do not post advertisements, commercial messages, photos or solicitations for any products or services.
2. Respect everyone. Do not insult, abuse or harass other members. You don't have to agree with them, but if you do have a disagreement, be respectful - as you would want someone to be to you. Attacks on other Winksite members are not allowed.
3. Do the right thing. Do not post, or provide links to any sites that display pornographic, violent or hateful materials or images.
4. Be who you are. Don't lie about your age or misrepresent yourself to other members or impersonate a Winksite employee, a Winksite member or any other person.
5. Keep it clean. Do not post explicit, obscene or vulgar comments or images on your Mobile Site or profile, or others' Mobile Sites or Profiles, or anywhere in Winksite.
6. We monitor Winksite, but we cannot discover everything that occurs everywhere on the site. Please help us by reporting to us any inappropriate conduct. Send an email to abuse@winksite.com.
7. Members who violate these Guidelines and Rules or the Winksite Terms of Service will be removed from Winksite.

SAFETY GUIDELINES

Winksite is your world. Make new friends, express your ideas and thoughts, and showcase your creative side. But please keep in mind that Winksite is a public space. There are certain guidelines that you must follow to ensure that you, and your Winksite friends and co-members, have a safe and enjoyable experience at Winksite.

1. Do not share personal information, such as your full first and last name, phone number, school location, IM name, city or state on boards, chats or any type of posts. Once you post this information -- it's out there and available for anyone to see. The Internet can be a great place to meet people and form new friendships. But some people you meet online might be pretending to be younger than they really are or they might want to be friends with you for the wrong reasons.
2. Do not reveal personal information about your friends or other people.
3. It's great to make new friends on Winksite, but do not meet anyone you don't really know in person without:
1. bringing another person with you
2. arranging to meet in a public place, or
3. notifying an adult of your plans.
4. Think before you post! Don't upload any embarrassing photos or post any stories that you wouldn't want your friends or parents to see.
5. Don't respond to anyone or anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. If you see or receive any harassing, threatening, hostile or inappropriate posts, report it to us immediately using the "Flag as inappropriate" link that appears on Member Profile and Mobile Site Profile pages, or email to reportabuse@winksite.com.
6. Talk to your parents, if you live at home, about their expectations and understanding of how you use the Internet and Winksite. It can be as helpful to them as it is to you.

Always...

• Have fun!
• Hang out with your friends
• Make new friends
• Respect other people's opinions and beliefs
• Tell your parents or guardians what you are doing. By telling them where you are hanging out online - and perhaps even showing them - you will put their minds at rest.
• Call for Help if you need to. All responsible websites have a method to send a request for help – don’t be afraid to use ours. At Winksite send your request to help@winksite.com

Never...

• Never give out your personal details. Never tell anyone your home address, telephone number, email address or mobile phone number. Don’t even tell them your real name or which school you go to.
• Never meet in real life. It’s not safe, no matter how long you have been friends with them online.
• Never talk to people who make you feel uncomfortable. If someone says things to you that you don't like or makes you feel uncomfortable, just leave Winksite or the mobile website or chatroom you are on - one click or shut down your browser and you're out of there!
• Never engage in sexual activity online. You will be banned from Winksite and other responsible teenage sites for using adult language and pretending to have sex (often referred to as 'cyber'). Play safe and don't take the risk of being banned.

You must not...

• Ask for or give out passwords, phone numbers, email addresses or other personal information
• Swear or use racist or offensive terms
• Use any programs to hack, script or edit Winksite in any way
• Trick other Winksite members into giving you their passwords
• Give away, trade or sell your Winksite account
• Describe sexual acts to other members
• Pester people who don't want to talk to you
• Type your password anywhere except for the "Sign In" box at winksite.com
• Break the law or talk others into breaking it

If you see anyone breaking the rules, please send us an email so we can take action.

Want to know more? http://kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/teens

PARENTAL TIPS

Winksite is popular with teens because it allows them to freely express themselves as well interact with new and old friends online. As a parent we encourage you to talk with your teens about making safe decisions with respect to how they interact online.

Here are a few guidelines to help you.

1. Talk to your kids to find out what they do online and about the sites they visit. Take the initiative and learn about the sites they frequent most.
2. Set reasonable guidelines so your kids know what they can and can't do online.
3. Encourage your kids to come to you if they encounter a problem online. You, or they, can report any problems or inappropriate behavior to Winksite at reportabuse@winksite.com.
4. Remind your kids that the Internet is a public place and that they should be careful about posting: 1) anything that might embarrass if seen by adults or others or 2) personal information that they wouldn't want the world to know such as IM screen names, telephone numbers, addresses, etc.
5. But while they shouldn't post personal information listed above, they should represent themselves accurately, specifically their age. Winksite members must be at least 14 years old.
6. While making new friends online can be a good thing, warn your children that not everyone online tells the truth and to be cautious about that.
7. And most importantly, to tell you if they want to meet a new online friend in person. If you think it's safe, help them arrange the meeting in a public place and make sure they are accompanied by an adult or friends.

Last Modified: February 14, 2017