In both moderated and social stream, chatting is a privilege, not a right. Beyond that, the two are quite different. Click each category to better read and understand its rules. Understanding how each category functions will give you, other chatters, and the moderators a better experience.

Moderated Chat Rules | Social Stream Rules

Moderated Chat

RRP Moderated Chat (MC) is a structured environment to learn about eagles, particularly the Decorah nest, in a family friendly setting. Moderators (Mods) participate in discussions during the hours MC is open, 8 AM US Central Time to 8 PM US Central Time.

To provide feedback or to contact us regarding Moderated Chat, please email moderatedchat@raptorresource.org

Chatting is a privilege, not a right. Moderators will actively enforce the following rules.

1. Be respectful, polite, and focused on the Decorah bald eagle nest.
2. No profanity, personal invective, or other inappropriate comments.
3. No comments touching on politics, religion, or sports. Respect the diversity of the room.
4. No social chat. “Hello” and “Good bye” are more appropriate in Social Stream.
5. Limit personal information, either asked or given. Age, gender, and other such details are unnecessary or even may be inadvisable. Additional advice about personal information is shown below these rules.
6. This is a very busy chat room. Do not mention your location in the main chat room. Roll calls of chatters' locations will be stopped as it causes chat to crash.
7. Be thoughtful in your choice of words when you post. What you intended to say may not come through clearly to others. In reading posts, give the poster the benefit of the doubt in what they were trying to convey. Disagreements might be unavoidable but should remain polite, and they should never become arguments.
8. Do not post strings of several emoticons, smileys, or random characters. Do not post in all caps; it's like YELLING. If you are visually impaired, please let a Moderator know. Moderators can be recognized as their posts appear in all blue.
9. While viewers come from all over the world, use English only to communicate most effectively with other chatters.

Moderators have volunteered their time and knowledge to make MC a family friendly place to watch the Decorah eagles nest with the added bonus of learning about eagles. Mods deserve your respect. Moderators are here to make sure all viewers have a good experience.

Moderators can timeout, kick, or permanently ban chat abusers and will delete inappropriate posts. Allow mods to deal with chat abusers. Do not engage them yourself. You are here to enjoy a chat about eagles. Keep your posts relevant to the eagles.

Often the chat room is maxed out, and other chatters are waiting to get in. If your presence is disruptive, mods will make way for others to take your place.

Ustream Safety Tips

Copied from Ustream's help center. http://helpcenter.ustream.tv/content/ustream-safety-tips
Ustream makes it easy to express yourself, connect with friends and make new ones, but please remember that what you post publicly could embarrass you or expose you to danger. Here are some common-sense guidelines that you should follow when using Ustream:

• Don't forget that your profile and Ustream forums are public spaces. Don't post anything you wouldn't want the world to know (e.g., your phone number, address, IM screens name, or specific whereabouts). Avoid posting anything that would make it easy for a stranger to find you, such as where you hang out every day after school.
• People aren't always who they say they are. Be careful about adding strangers to your friends list. It's fun to connect with new Ustream friends from all over the world, but avoid meeting people in person whom you do not fully know. If you must meet someone, do it in a public place and bring a friend or trusted adult.
• Harassment, hate speech and inappropriate content should be reported. If you feel someone's behavior is inappropriate, react. Talk with a trusted adult, or report it to Ustream or the authorities.
• Don't post anything that would embarrass you later. Think twice before posting a photo or info you wouldn't want your parents or boss to see!
• Don't mislead people into thinking that you're older or younger. If you are under 14 and pretend to be older, customer service will delete your profile. If you are over 18 and pretend to be a teenager to contact underage users, customer service will delete your profile.
• Don’t get hooked by a phishing scam. Phishing is a method used by fraudsters to try to get your personal information, such as your username and password, by pretending to be a site you trust.

Social Stream

RRP Social Stream (SS) is a lightly moderated room, which means that you are responsible for your own words. Moderators’ prime function is to provide troll protection, although they can also delete inappropriate posts and ban disruptive and abusive chatters when appropriate. Please note: Moderators (Mods) will not always be in SS 24/7. To provide feedback or to contact us regarding Social Stream, please email socialstream@raptorresource.org

Posting in SS is a privilege, not a right. Here are a few common sense guidelines for you to make everyone's experience in SS more enjoyable.

• Be respectful and polite.
• No profanity, personal invective, or other inappropriate comments.
• When classes are in the room, allow the mods if there are any present to engage the class. If you do give an answer, be absolutely certain it is correct and accurate.
• Allow mods to deal with chat abusers; do not engage them yourself. Keep any links you post relevant to Decorah, eagles, or RRP.
• No comments touching on politics, religion, or sports. Respect the diversity of the room.
• Be thoughtful in your choice of words when you post. What you intended to say may not come through clearly to others. In reading posts, give the poster the benefit of the doubt in what they were trying to convey. We ask that all posts be in English so the overwhelming majority of the posters can understand you.
• Disagreements might be unavoidable but should remain polite, and they should never become arguments.
• As in all Internet activities be conscious of what personal information you post (e.g. age, gender, personal location).
• Do not post strings of several emoticons, smileys, or random characters. Do not post in all caps, please; it is like yelling.

Respect the mods who are volunteering here to make sure all viewers have a good experience. Mods can and will delete inappropriate posts and ban chat abusers when mods are present.