Effective Date: October 26, 2022
Why does Primer have a Code of Conduct?
At Primer, we support a community of young creators ages 9-18, and we want everyone to feel welcome and treated with kindness and respect. We put this Code of Conduct together in order to outline our expectations for how our community engages with our platform and with one another.
Primer's Code of Conduct applies to everyone who interacts with Primer's product and the broader community.
Everyone means:
Interacting with Primer's product and broader community means:
Content means:
We believe in open, healthy discussion and a wealth of perspectives and ideas. We encourage our members to discuss hard topics with empathy, curiosity, and intelligence. We believe that when they do they will build meaningful relationships with their peers and invaluable skills they will take with them into adulthood.
We expect everyone on Primer to…
We know these are skills some in our community may still be learning, so we strive to help build these habits of respect in the ways we model behavior and moderate interactions.
The Primer team reserves the right to actively moderate situations when the intention moves from curiosity or debate into unkindness, discrimination, superiority, derogatory language, inflammatory intentions, gossip, bullying, and/or misinformation. Primer is not intended to be the place for those conversations or posts.
In this spirit, we have the following expectations for our community. Primer is intended to be a place to…
Celebrate creativity and personality
When reacting to project updates or commenting on someone's post, celebrate the creativity and details that a person used to make that project their own, and the process of coming up with, sharing, and testing adventurous ideas. Additionally, when members share about themselves, their ideas, or something that they're proud of, it's your job to make them feel welcome in a club.
Give constructive, actionable feedback
When members post project updates and have things to improve, post comments that help them understand what actions they can take to improve their project, rather than sending negative messages that focus on their project being badly made or containing mistakes.
Ask questions & invite feedback
If you or another member doesn’t know something, has an idea to share, or needs some advice, post questions to the club. Invite members to give feedback on your project updates so that you can improve your projects as much as possible.
Engage in spirited debate
Primer encourages spirited debate between members. We encourage members to disagree and discuss why, and especially value lengthy debates that might stretch days or weeks. Of course, we will remove and flag comments that are discriminatory, ad hominem, or otherwise violate our Code of Conduct.
Share your resources and credit your sources
If you use a website or a tutorial to help you complete a project, sharing that resource can help another person with their own project. We also give credit to the original artist when posting other people's work.
Keep messages meaningful and relevant
When posting or sending a message on Primer make sure that it's clear what you're trying to say and that you're not repeating the same information over and over again. Be mindful to keep comments and posts relevant to the space you are in. When in live experience Rooms, these same rules apply to both chat and audio conversation.
Inflammatory Content. This includes content that is unkind, discriminatory, derogatory, or otherwise inflammatory, such as sharing misinformation. It also includes gossip, bullying, stalking, trolling, harassment, or intimidation. We also do not allow any content that depicts, glorifies, or promotes such behavior.
Inappropriate Content. This includes content that is violent, sexual or pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, misogynistic or sexist, racially or ethnically offensive, discriminatory against LGBTQ+ users, promotes or depicts illegal activities, or is otherwise inappropriate. We do not allow nude or partially nude human imagery, even in art, due to our wide age range.
Content lacking sufficient context. Occasionally, in the context of nuanced historical content (e.g. The French Revolution), projects, rooms, and posts might involve content that appears to be insensitive without shared context, and translates offensively or objectionably online. The need for context is very important. Primer is not well-equipped to introduce context and nuance to all projects and content through comments, so on occasion, projects that reference distressing or violent world events may be flagged as "Lacking Sufficient Context".
Sharing personal details or information including addresses, full names, birth dates, contact information, or other sensitive details about ourselves or our families.
Spamming. Examples of spam include posting a message with random characters, sending the same message multiple times, or posting the same message in every single club. If you want to share something with everyone on Primer, consider posting in either the most relevant club or the most active club.
Disruptive Audio. We don’t allow audio that disrupts other members, especially in live experiences. This includes excessive background noise, loudness, or screaming that makes the intended audio unintelligible.
Directing other members off-platform. When posting on Primer, you may not link to any external websites or services, unless it is directly relevant to the activity you are working on together.
Intellectual property violations. You may not post other people’s work without crediting them on Primer.
Adults using Primer. Adults may not impersonate kids, participate on behalf of kids, or participate as learners themselves in clubs. We understand some kids may need an adult to help with typing or using the platform; we encourage adults to assist as needed while helping kids build these skills but encourage adults to refrain from writing their kids’ posts for them. Adults may complete projects alongside their kids offline. If we suspect an adult has participated in a Primer club or if an adult has self-identified, we reserve the right to delete any content posted, remove the user, and issue a reminder that adults are not permitted to participate directly in Primer’s clubs. If we suspect an adult is impersonating a kid, we’ll remove their account and reach out to resolve any misunderstandings.
Online communication is a skill, and we're here to help members build that skill.
Good online communication is a skill that young people need to learn earlier and earlier in life. For some members, Primer will be one of the first online communities that they join. We acknowledge that some members lack the skill to translate their thoughts/ideas online perfectly. We acknowledge that, as readers, some members will lack the discernment to separate their intentions from their words.
Primer's members come from families of all backgrounds, and while we speak to each other differently in person, we need to work to share common communication values at Primer.
Here are some things that we, at Primer, can do that will help support that environment:
What do members have access to on Primer?
Primer members have access to three main things:
What happens if someone breaks the guidelines?
Post and Commenting
If a Primer member violates our Code of Conduct through a comment, upload, chat, or post, we’ll remove the post immediately. We may send a report of the incident to the user and the user’s guardian. Because the core of our guidelines surrounds intent, a Primer administrator also may reach out to the user and/or user’s guardian to ask about the intention behind a certain post or comment to gain clarity. If the member does not respond to Primer outreach and we do not have guardian information, the member may be removed from the platform.
Live Interactions
If a Primer member violates our Code of Conduct through action or words in a Primer live event or Room online, we may verbally warn the member that the action is against the Code of Conduct and/or they may be removed from the space, either immediately, or if they continue to engage in that behavior.
If the breach of the Code of Conduct continues, Primer administrators and facilitators may remove a member from a Primer Room. The member may not be allowed to rejoin that Room, and a report of the incident may be sent to the user and their guardian.
Repeated Offenses
In the case of repeated offenses, Primer may suspend a member’s access to Primer by deactivating their account. Access can be reinstated in one of two ways:
1. A parent reviews all incident reports with their student and determines that their child is ready to be a constructive member of Primer’s online community.
2. The student communicates directly with a member of the Primer team and determines they are ready to be a constructive member of Primer’s online community.
Zero Tolerance Offenses
Primer reserves the right to remove a member from Primer at any time for a breach of the Code of Conduct. This may mean temporarily or permanently deactivating the user’s account. If a user is removed, a report may be sent to the user and their guardian.
What do I do if I see someone else breaking the guidelines?
Members can report content on Primer in one of three ways:
1. Click the flag icon next to the offending content. This will allow you to report the content to Primer.
2. Reach out to Primer support. You can do this by hovering over your profile picture icon in the sidebar and clicking “Get support”.
3. Email us at hi@withprimer.com.
We encourage members to work things out with their peers when they can and if they feel comfortable doing so! If something posted offends a member and they feel safe and comfortable commenting and telling the original poster why it offended them or asking about the original poster’s intention, we highly encourage that interaction. We are also happy to step in and support those public or private conversations so both parties (and the whole community) can grow. Primer administrators may moderate and step into these conversations regardless of being asked to if we deem it necessary.
Primer is not a public platform. We’re always learning, so as our community evolves and our platform grows, these standards may change too. We may occasionally remove content for any reason we deem necessary, including violating rules that we haven't yet clarified in this document. We’ll know it when we see it. Each Club may also have additional specific expectations in addition to this core Code of Conduct.
Have a question or suggestion? Drop us a line at hi@withprimer.com.