[Admin Note] Policy clarification [off-site advice & advice given via Private Message system]

[SuperSleeper]

Howdy folks,

It's always been the policy of Apnea Board to encourage members to ask for advice in the public forums here, rather than via the Private Message (PM) system.  Neither should members use their forum account to ask another forum member to go "offsite" for private consultations.

There are several reasons for this, two of which are:

1.  Giving advice via PMs or private off-site consultations is really not fair to other readers who are deprived of the ability to read the answers and gain insight or knowledge given via a private message.  By posting public replies in the forums, it leverages the efforts of those trying to help others by making the help publicly viewable to all (avoiding a duplication of effort).

2.  There is safety in keeping most discussions "out in the open"-- What would happen if someone were to "advise" via a PM that a newbie "tape up the air holes" in their CPAP mask to "stop the leaking"?  That newbie might be tempted to actually do that, and that is quite dangerous advice.  If such advice had been given in an open, public post, others would quickly chime in and correct the error so that the newbie wouldn't try such an unwise thing.

Our policy on this has been in place for some time, and is stated in red text whenever someone sends out a Private Message (PM).  But for further clarity, our forum staff has decided to restate this policy directly in the forum rules, as follows:

The PM (Private Message) system should not be used to initiate or solicit private consultations or therapy advice.  Neither should members use their forum account to initiate or solicit private off-site consultations.

Thanks folks - if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask a forum staff member for clarification..

[SuperSleeper]

A bit more info: Remember that Apnea Board is primarily a forum for open discussion, not a "help desk" where we have staff available 24/7 to provide one-on-one, private consultations via a private system.

The big issue here is #2 in my previous post-- we have a "check and balance" against "bad advice" here - it's called posting questions and answers in the open forums.  This is why we make a rather large issue of this, especially since many sleep apnea sufferers are older, sleep-deprived and may not be fully alert when receiving advice.  They may not be able to think clearly and might be more prone to acting upon bad advice (in absence of any advice to the contrary).

We want to eliminate as many potential problems for them as we can-- and by asking folks to keep the vast majority of discussions in the public forums, this provides that "check and balance".

Some members here really appreciate the experience and advice given by certain members, and I can understand when they may wish to receive help from more knowledgeable members.  But the proper way to do that is really in the open, public forums, not by sending an unsolicited Private Message to an individual member.  It's really not fair to everyone involved that good advice be limited in scope so much so that only one person can benefit from it.  If it's good advice, then we shouldn't mind if it's all out in the open for all to read.

Hope that makes sense.

[SuperSleeper]