Group rules for the Doomsday Debunked group on Facebook
These are the rules for the Doomsday Debunked FACEBOOK GROUP. Not for this blog.
Please look over these rules before you post or comment, thanks.
[Screenshot for social preview / sharing:
Do's and don'ts:
FOR SCARED PEOPLE ASKING FOR HELP:
DO feel free to post any story you find scary, however silly it may seem, even if you know it's silly but are scared by it.
DON'T share any story just for laughs.
DON'T SHARE A SCARY STORY UNLESS YOU ARE SCARED - or helping someone who is scared, thanks!
TRY TO AVOID mentioning actual dates if possible (some members get scared by any dates).
FOR EVERYONE - DEBUNKERS OR SCARED:
DON’T TELL SCARED MEMBERS THAT THE THING THEY ARE SCARED OF IS TRUE without checking with reliable sources
DON’T MOCK MEMBERS FOR THEIR FEARS or dismiss their fears or laugh at them - including laugh reacts, emoticons and acronyms
FOR DEBUNKERS:
DON’T REPLY TO SOMEONE PUBLICLY SAYING YOU CAN'T HELP THEM - if you can’t help them very likely someone else can. Please just do not comment. If you don’t want to see someone’s posts just block them.
DON‘T TELL OTHERS TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THEIR FEARS - Panicking people often find it hard to think clearly especially in a state of panic. If you haven’t been through this yourself, it may be a level of panic you never have experienced in your life and not know is possible.
This group is for you if you are scared of any Doomsday scenario, also do join if you want to help reassure scared people and help with the debunking, including astronomers, scientists and those who have seen through these fears.
Those are the main rules you need to be aware of.
Unlike most groups our moderation is rules based so we spell things out in much more detail than for most groups. This is because many people we help are autistic and find following rules far easier than guidelines based on social awareness.
So long as you follow the rules you are fine. If necessary we add new rules as situations arise. We don’t expect you to know all the rules but our moderation is based on them and we’ll refer to them if needs be to explain our decisions. If you find it difficult to follow the rules we’ll work with you to try to find a solution. We know how much our scared members depend on the group. So don’t worry that you’ll be blocked if you genuinely need the group.
For details read on.
NOTE we have additional rules, and guidelines, posted from time to time to the group with the hashtag #DDRULES
TITLES SUMMARIZE SECTIONS - YOU CAN GET A GOOD IDEA BY JUST READING THE TITLES
The list of rules is quite long now. Just short of 10,000 words. If read aloud at 150 wpm it would take over an hour to read it.
However, you can get a good idea by skipping through to read just the title for each rule then drill into the details for any rule you feel you need to understand better. Any questions do ask.
DON'T SHARE A SCARY STORY UNLESS YOU ARE SCARED OR HELPING SOMEONE SCARED
The sensationalist press is full of scary stories, especially the Daily Express runs a scary fake asteroid warning or false prophecy often several times a week.
Youtube probably has dozens of fake scary stories every day.
We are not looking for stories to debunk. We are here to help the scared people. You can share these stories in the Debunkers and debaters group, but not here.
This applies to debunkers also, please only debunk stories that people are already scared of in the group - or you have good reason to expect them to get scared soon (e.g. getting lots of PMs about it).
If you are asking for a debunk to counteract a scary false belief but are not scared or helping someone scared this is not permtted by our rules. This is not just off topic, not permitted at all.
DON'T SHARE A NEW SCARY STORY ON SOMEONE ELSE'S POST
It's okay to post new scary stories on your own post - but please start a new top level post if you are scared of something new, thanks!
FUN SCARY IS OKAY
E.g. it's okay to post about Buffy the vampire slayer or Harry Potter or some of the online videos of people pretending to be scared of monsters. This is okay so long as it is clear that nobody in the group is scared by your post.
It is not however permitted to post fun scary stories about zombies - because some people are genuinely scared of zombies. So it depends on the topic.
If you are scared of zombies see We can never have a “Zombie Apocalypse” - zombies are fictional
TRY TO AVOID MENTIONING FUTURE DATES IF YOU CAN
Some of our members tend to get future dates stuck in their mind and find it hard to forget them.
If the story you want debunked has a date in the title, please still share it. If there is a future date in the story however and not in the title it's helpful to warn readers about this before they click through.
Of course by the previous rule if you aren't scared yourself and not asking for a debunk, please no future scary dates, thanks!
FOR FIRST TIME POSTERS - YOUR FIRST POST OR COMMENT SHOULD BE ON TOPIC FOR THE GROUP - AFTER THAT OFF TOPIC POSTS AND COMMENTS ARE OKAY
Your first post should be on topic for the group. Ether debunking or in other ways trying to help members even if just reassuring someone who is scared - or talking about something they are scared of.
Anything else can, on discretion of the moderators, be immediately deleted and the member muted while we sort it out via PM.
This is for first time posts or any posts by someone who has only ever posted off topic. Once you have done at least one post or comment about the subject of the group, then it is okay to post off topic e.g. upload a photo of your pet, talk about movies, or whatever so long as it doesn't overwhelm the group. But first post here, please, on topic for the group. Thanks!
YOUR FIRST POST MUST NOT INVOLVE HARM TO ANIMALS OR ANYTHING NOT AGE APPROPRIATE TO A 13 YEAR OLD - THIS LEADS TO AN IMMEDIATE BLOCK
At one point we got many new posters sharing videos of animals or insects or other creatures being harmed as their first post. We will do an immediate block for anyone who does this or any other post not age appropriate and likely scary or upsetting or offensive to young children. Miminum age for Facebook is 13 and some members may be younger.
We will send a PM to check in case the block was a mistake in some way. This has become less of a problem with the new Facebook system where non members can submit posts for pre-approval and we then approve the post before they can post.
THIS IS NOT A GROUP FOR PREPPERS
If you post here about ways to survive collapse of civilization, your post will be deleted. If you are worried about collapse of civilization it is fine to post and ask for help, but it is not a group to promote these ideas.
Many of the things preppers believe fail fact check. We can help check those things here for scared people.
SUGGESTION - DO CHECK TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ASKED THE SAME QUESTION RECENTLY
See if anyone has asked the same question recently as it may be already answered. Try scrolling down the page a bit.
When some story goes viral or hits the news, e.g. the Chinese spy balloon over the USA, we often get many duplicate posts on the same story. So it’s worth scrolling down the page a few posts to see if someone else already posted the story - then you can bump it to the top of the group by commenting on it, for instance to ask for more help on the topic.
You can also try the option to search the group posts
. Search Doomsday Debunked on Facebook
This is a suggestion for panicking people. It is not a rule for moderating the posts. It's an understandable human reaction to post immediately without checking when panicking. Debunkers - when this happens just point them in the direction of the previous post with a link to it in your reply.
Also this is not your own duplicate posts. It is okay to post about the same fear over and over - so long as it doesn’t overwhelm the group. Typically one post a day with the same identical question won’t overwhelm the group - you can also bump previous posts on the same fear - more about that below.
PLEASE CONSIDER KEEPING A SCARY POST ONCE IT IS DEBUNKED
You are permitted to delete your post at any time - you are totally in control. However do consider doing a screenshot or copy of helpful debunks before deleting them.
This is the way Facebook is set up and it is okay to do this. You get to decide, not us and you don't need to explain why you did it.
Members often post here by mistake, or have other reasons to delete their post. For instance if you ask a question about Trump, and it turns into a political fight and you just can't cope with that, then it's fine to delete. Or you might delete a post because the replies were unhelpful and scared you more or for any other reason, it's your choice.
The moderators can also step in if you need us. For instance, if a political discussion starts up and you find it disturbing, we can close comments on your post and delete the discussion.
We can also remind members of group rules and will act swiftly to deal with any personal attacks you get on your post.
If you still want to delete it, please consider doing a screenshot or a text copy of their debunk before deleting your post. Then send this to the people who helped you. They may want to use the same comment to help others in the group. Sadly Facebook gives us no way to recover comments we made on deleted posts.
THIS GROUP IS A COMPLEMENT TO HELP BY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
They can do much to help with both medications and also therapy. Many members are receiving professional help and they can attest to its effectiveness. Modern medicine and modern forms of talking therapy such as CBT can be very effective. .See my SEVEN TIPS which has more on this as well as other tips that members have found helpful:https://debunkingdoomsday.quora.com/Seven-tips-for...
FOR EVERYONE NO PERSONAL ATTACKS
Some here have minority views held by few in society.
Please don't attack anyone for their views, or for any other reason. If you can say the same things in a respectful fashion, fine. If not, just don't post.
Also please no personal attacks on groups of people e.g. all those of a particular nationality, gender, or sexual orientation. Also please no personal attacks on groups of people who vote a particular way or who have religious views you don’t agree with.
This is about whether you attack the people as a group, e.g. say that all Democrats are awful people or that all Republicans are awful people or all Biden or Trump supporters are awful just because of which president they support. It is of course okay to be opposed to policies that others in the group support.
TIPS: Instead, try to find a way to say the same things without personal attacks. Try to find things that would interest the other person that might lead to them either changing their views or seeing things in a new light, or at least lead to an interesting or enjoyable conversation. What you say will be far more effective that way. It can help to find some useful facts on reliable sites on google to reply. Take your time - there is no hurry to reply to anyone here. Someone else might make your same point if it is a valid one.
WHAT HAPPENS: If mild you will be warned, and if necessary muted temporarily. If it is something that could be hurtful to a member, the post or comment will be deleted immediately.
IF YOU ARE ATTACKED: If someone attacks you, please don't attack back but just report the comment or post to a moderator (ideally someone not involved in the discussion) - who will then evaluate it. If they agree that it is indeed an attack they will delete it and mute the attacker until they promise not to do this again.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN TALKING TO SUICIDAL MEMBERS
If members are suicidal, we can help them as, for instance, friends or family would help someone who is suicidal. Above all they need someone to talk to, who will listen to them. Tell them about the various forms of help available - psychologists, suicide help lines - and that in an emergency if they feel suicidal they can go to the nearest emergency room at a hospital and they have a duty to protect you.
It is NOT permitted to tell a member to kill themselves - or encourage suicide.
It IS okay to let them talk about their suicidal thoughts - this doesn't make them more likely to kill themselves.
For more about this see my blog post:
. Supporting someone who is suicidal
NO PERSONAL ATTACKS OF MINORS WHO ARE NON MEMBERS
Minors who are non members have the same level of protection from attacks as members.This has mainly come up with Greta Thunberg. We feel that personal attacks that may be acceptable for an adult false prophet like Seven Fletcher or politiicans such as Trump or Putin are not appropriate for minors like Greta. Generally your point is likely to be more effective if you attack someone's ideas rather than them as a person.However, it is understandable that you may say things that would count as a personal attack of a false prophet or a political figure. This is okay, but please no personal attacks of minors, thanks!
TOLERANCE OF RELIGION AND NON RELIGION
Please don't tell religious members to
STOP being religious.
that religion is wrong
that their religion is just a story or imagination
If necessary, this can lead to a temporary mute while we sort it out, because we are here to help people. When someone is scared, in the middle of a panic attack, perhaps the worst moment of their life - this is NOT a good time to tell them to abandon their faith!
Also please don’t tell other members
that they must follow your religion, e.g. that they must follow Jesus and believe in Jesus.
Many members may be humanists or non religious and again when they are in the middle of a panic attack this is not a time to tell them to adopt a new religion!
Please do not try to undermine other members religion or their non religion.
It is not okay to say to another member that they should
stop being religious, or that they
should be religious,
no matter how good you think your reasons are.
Religious members also do not have to justify their religion to you. For instance it is absolutely okay to be religious just because your parents were.
However it is okay to help other people who already want to be religious or stop being religious and ask for help with this.
A good approach here is to share what is positive about your own belief system, whether it is a religious one or a non religious one, to help scared people.
Humanism can be a very positive life style - and talking about how it works could be inspiring to some scared people.
Religion can be helpful too,
It's also okay to share a story about how YOU found religion or non religion helped.
Let the scared people lead the conversation - if they are interested in stories about how you found religion or non religion helpful or arguments for religious or non religious ideas, and find them helpful, that's fine. But if they are panicked and distressed by these arguments, this is not what we are here for.
PLEASE TAKE CARE WITH JOKES
Members may be on edge and easily scared, on the point of a panic attack. Jokes can be fine if you know what they are doing. Dave Greg's "Huge Chocolate Teapot" is hilarious and scares nobody.
But it is easy to scare people here. For instance, don't joke about being raptured or say that your friends are being raptured, even labeled as a joke. You can make such jokes in the Debaters and Debunkers group but they are not appropriate here.
NO SCARY MEMES
Memes are fine and can be fun, but please avoid ones that are scary at first glance, even if the message isn't scary if you read it carefully. Remember some of our members may be in the middle of a panic attack or easily triggered. If unsure, run it past me or the mods first, thanks.
THIS IS A BIPOLAR FRIENDLY GROUP
Everyone - please do what you can to help bipolar people feel at home here. They may say bizarre things when not mentally sound, full of energy, not able to judge / filter what they say
If you haven't come across bipolar depression, here is a medical description
The best way to reply is not to get into any complicated argument. Just say simply and clearly that what they said is not true ahd it may help to say they are manic as they may not know that.
When they aren't manic they often says helpful and useful things in the group.
The main rules still apply such as no personal attacks.
However bipolar people may be most scared and most in need of help when manic - so we need to treat them specially. They may say things that would lead to other members being blocked, but so long as they aren't actually harming others we just delete such posts and comments, and may mute them for a while if needed.
NO ILLEGAL POSTS
Bipolar especially may sometimes say things that are technically illegal if they were believed. We immediately delete such posts. This helps them too, as they won't want to be banned by facebook's automatic algorithms.
DURING COVID19 OUTBREAK
Please - only share medical advice about COVID-19 from a reliable source. Details:
NEWS OF PUBLIC FIGURES WITH COVID19 - SUCH AS DONALD AND MELANIA TRUMP
Please everyone, the only appropriate comment or post at this time is to wish the US president and his wife well and to wish them both to have a speedy recovery.
This rule also applies to any news of illnesss about a public figure
This is an awful disease, especially if you get it seriously, you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.
If you find it difficult to feel sympathy, try thinking of him as a human rather than as a politician. You would surely act to save the life of a random person in the street, knowing nothing of their past or their character, just because they are human. Try to think of Trump in the way a doctor would or a nurse, as a human being who needs care, rather than as a politician whose views you may not like.
If you can’t say that, please don’t post or comment here on this matter. Thanks!
NEWS OF DEATHS OF PUBLIC FIGURES SUCH AS THE QUEEN - REMEMBER MEMBERS MAY BE MOURNINGN
The only appropriate comments about the Queen's death are condolences and similar - bear in mind that some here may be mourning her death. Same as our rule for when a public figure is ill.
The same rule for any death of a public figure that members may be mourning.
NO DEATH THREATS
As a group rule, it is not permitted to threaten to kill someone (e.g. a public figure) even as a joke.
In the US, at least for Federal law, a death threat is not illegal if it is a joke, and whether it's a joke depends on the intent of the person who make the threat
Also a case would most likely require more than just a Facebook comment.
However, we are not legal experts and it is safest for us to delete any death threat even if it may well be a joke.
NO HARRASSMENT OF MEMBERS
Please don't send PM's that somewhat harass members or make them feel uncomfortable. That includes
sexual harassmentracism
hate speech
intimate or offensive suggestions, requests, or comments.
Also, no unsolicited requests for naked photos.
If you receive a personal attack or harrassment of any kind, please contact the moderators, or myself. If a joke bothers you please let us know as well.
If you wish to complain about other members, again please don't attack them within the group but rather contact us via PM. Thanks!
NO SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE POSTS
Sexually suggestive posts can make members feel uncomfortable and intimidate them. There is no need for sexually suggestive posts. This rule is not going to impact on functioning of the group.
Of course - that is, unless it is to ask for help about something someone is scared of where the thing they are scared of includes sexually suggestive material.
NO DOXING
Please do not share things you know about a member's life outside the group here, even if it is publicly avaialble and easy to find on their Facebook profile or timeline, or other public source, unless they have shared it themselves and make it clear that they are okay with us to talk about it.
This is called doxing (from dox, abbreviation of documents) and is not permitted. Any such post will be deleted and the member muted. Please report any such offence to me or the moderators.
The same also applies to private messages - do not share another members private messages to you in public unless you know they are okay with it. If a member sends you an unacceptable PM that breaches our rules, it is okay to share it privately with the moderators.Thanks!
DON'T DISCUSS MEMBERS WHO HAVE LEFT THE GROUP
Especially - don't discuss their fears or make fun of them.
If someone asks where they are, it's okay to say they left, simple communications like that.
However, we want past members to be able to leave the group and forget about it if they want to, not to be dragged back to it because they hear members are discussing them.
DON'T DISCUSS MEMBERS YOU HAVE BLOCKED
Especially not in an negative way. If you have blocked someone, they can't respond or even see what you said.
DON'T ACCUSE MEMBERS OF HAVING FAKE ACCOUNTS
Many Facebook members keep their friends list private and so may seem to have no friends. Their profile photo may be private too or they may not have one. Some people join Facebook for the sole purpose of joining our group. They may join Facebook just minutes before joining the group.
None of this means they are fake accounts or not real people.
If you have concerns that an account may be fake pelase contact us via PM.
DO NOT SUGGEST ANY MEMBER IS A TROLL OR SUGGEST THEY ARE NOT GENUINE IN THEIR FEARS
Any such post or comment will be deleted on the spot just as we do for joke posts.
If someone is scared and in a panic attack, it may seem like some bizarre form of trolling to those not used to it. This is not the case and please don't accuse the scared person of anything.
We occasionally do get trolls and they are normally obvious when you are used to helping the genuinely scared people.
Even when someone is a troll we also discuss this with them via PM not in the group and it is a simple matter to mute or block them if this is needed.
If you think a member is a troll or think their fears are not genuine, or wish to report any problematical behaviour, please contact the moderators privately via PM.
DON'T CALL A MEMBER OUT PUBLICLY FOR BREAKING THESE RULES
Please don't publicly call members out if you think they are breaking these rules, instead contact the moderators via PM, thanks
The issue here is public accusation - if someone comes to us for help and maybe it's the worst day of their life, panicking, confused, vomiting with fear, the last thing we want is for them to have to deal with a public accusation in the group that is here to help them.
It's the same for those who are trying to help. Again if they made some mistake, broke a rule, maybe didn't even know about it, we handle it privately. It works much better that way.
Also please don’t say anything that might suggest you are a moderator in private communications with other members [unless you are one of course]. Again raise any concerns with us instead, thanks! We will moderate if needs be, after talking to everyone concerned if needed.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION - SOMETIMES MODERATORS WILL SAY PUBLICLY THAT A MEMBER BROKE A RULE - WE DO THIS IF IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO HANDLE THE SITUATION - WE TRY TO HANDLE RULE BREAKS PRIVATELY BUT SOMETIMES THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE
Sometimes moderators have to intervene in a conversation publicly especially if it is something that is scaring other members or needs prompt action for some other reason.
We try to do it via PM but if members don't respond to PMs or if we aren't able to respond quickly and the rule break generates discussion in the group sometimes we have to draw attention to rule breaks publicly.
Especially if there is a long developing conversation that many people have seen and we have to stop it we may need to intervene publicly.
Depending on the circumstances we may then delete the relevant comment about the rule break after it’s been acted on. Do talk to us via PM about any concerns or suggestions you have about any of this.
DO NOT SUGGEST A MEMBER SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE GROUP
This also is something to discuss with mods privately, whatever the reasons you have, whether you think they are a troll or for any other reason.
The issue is public accusations.
CONTENT MUST BE FAMILY FRIENDLY AND AGE APPROPRIATE FOR 13 YEAR OLDS
This is a family friendly group and has children as young as the Facebook minimum age of 13, and some may be younger (for instance signed in on their parent's account).
Content must be age appropriate. This is not just about mature content. For instance it is not acceptable to post a video that encourages young children to try smoking.
We do permit swear words here such as F___ if it is part of your natural expresssion when panicked. Young children will have seen this before on Facebook.
Adult themes of course are okay such as discussion of the legal situation for LGBT members, and legal status of gay marriage. However, any discussions in the group have to be done in an age appropriate way.
TELLING OTHERS IN THE GROUP ABOUT CREATIONS THAT YOU SELL
We have a thread where you can post a photo or video of your creation as a comment.
https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/1072301596531207/
Permitted items include things you make yourself and your customizations of standard items like mugs, phone cases, or computerized creations, such as a game or a short film, or if you livestream or anything you are personally involved in like that. If unsure ask a moderator first.This is part of getting to know each other and also supporting each other, especially in a lockdown when many people are turning to other forms of finance when out of work.
It is okay to offer your product for sale to group members and to mention a price, so long as it isn't too promotional. One way to do that is to ask others to PM you if they want to buy a copy of your creation.
You need to have made at least one post on topic for the group before you can post an item for sale.
Any top level post about commercial products without permission will be deleted. If what you create or sell is of special relevance to group members as well as appropriate to the group, contact a moderator and we will decide what to do after talking it over with you and each other.
NO REQUESTS FOR GIFTS FROM MEMBERS YOU DON'T KNOW WELL
Please don't ask for financial help or gifts from members of the group you don't know very well. If a member of the group out of generosity gives you something, it is still not appropriate to ask other members to make the same gift to you.
If unsure about anything please contact the mods first.
FOR DEBUNKERS
DO share your own debunking blog posts, YouTube videos etc for any doomsday scenario, not just the ones that people have said they are scared of in the group.
RESPECT - for astronomers and scientists. Please bear in mind that some here may have decided long ago that astronomy and maths are not for them and others may be young children - the minimum Facebook age is 13. Please treat any questions with respect. Ideas that seem LOL silly to astronomers can be truly scary to those without that background.
PATIENCE - some of the scared people here are going through what may be the worst time in their entire life and they need more patience and sympathy, the more repetitive they get. The group is set up to help such people.
DO NOT POST WITH INTENT TO SCARE MEMBERS - OR WITHOUT CARING THAT SOMETIMES YOUR POSTS SCARE THEM - OR POSTS THAT YOU KNOW MAY HELP SOME MEMBERS BUT SCARE OTHER MEMBERS - OR POSTS THAT ARE SARCASTIC SCARY OR JOKINGLY SCARY
If you are genuinely scared of something or helping someone who is genuinely scared then do post. It helps to tag your post with #ddscared to indicate that you are indeed scared.
Posting with intent to scare others in the group is not tolerated in any circumstances. Anyone who does this will be warned and muted first in milder cases. If someone persists in doing this if necessary they get banned from the group. This is rare and except in cases of obvious trolling, there is lots of warning first and opportunities to change.
It’s the same also if you don't care if what you post scares others, - this also is not permitted.
It’s the same if you know that the way you say something will help some members but scare others. This also is not permitted.
It is also the same if it is a joke or sarcasm. In this case there may be no intent at all to scare anyone but we still have to act quickly to protect members.
Some of our members can’t detect sarcasm and may find jokes confusing too sometimes.
Remember we have members who are
autistic - some autistic people can’t detect even the most obvious sarcasm and need to be told it is sarcasm explicitly
special needs people with learning difficulties
many who panic and when you panic then you may lose your ability to detect the most obvious sarcasm or joke if about the topic that triggers your fear
bipolar - in the manic phase then they can be easily confused
Only some very obvious jokes are okay like the giant chocolate teapot. But as I said above
no jokes about zombies either
or about the Christian idea of a rapture
The worst case is that some of our members could even be driven to suicide by such words so we HAVE to act immediately to remove any such content. Please understand.
We are here to help everyone including the most vulnerable, including people who are sometimes in a panicked state of mind and can’t think clearly - please don’t say things you know may scare any of our members.
This is a rule about your intent. Sometimes the intent is obvious but sometimes we may make mistakes. Of course, we can't know what you are thinking, but we act quickly so as to protect our members.
Please be understanding if we get this wrong.
IT IS OKAY TO POST THINGS THAT SCARE PEOPLE ACCIDENTALLY –PLEASE DON’T BE DISCOURAGED WHEN THIS HAPPENS - SOME OF OUR MEMBERS PANIC VERY EASILY BUT THEY STILL FIND OUR DEBUNKS HELPFUL
Please don’t be disheartened if someone does panic in response to an attempt to help them – this is rather common in our group and is natural when you are helping people who panic very easily.
You may be debunking nuclear war for instance, and one of your sentences is a bit ambiguous and someone who panics about this topic thinks you said there will be a nuclear war when you mean there is no increased risk. It’s usually sorted out pretty quickly and the misunderstanding corrected.
It’s a natural thing to happen especially when trying to help someone who has been on edge about a topic for many weeks or months and is constantly panicking about it.
This of course doesn’t count as intent to scare anyone, it was just an accident. It’s happened to me many times myself. The key to it is to recover from it as fast as you can, and clarify what you meant.
FOR SCARED PEOPLE – PLEASE BE UNDERSTANDING IF A DEBUNKER ACCIDENTALLY SCARES YOU - IT MAY HELP TO GIVE THEM USEFUL FEEDBACK – OR DISCUSS WITH THE MODERATORS - AND IT IS OKAY TO BLOCK A DEBUNKER WHO SCARES YOU
It can sometimes feel like treading on egg shells as a debunker. That you can’t seem to say anything without people panicking about it.
So please be understanding if debunkers express things in a blunt way or ways that scare you. So long as they don’t intend to scare you and are doing their best in their own way to avoid scaring others, they aren’t breaking any group rules.
If a particular debunker tends to scare you it is absolutely fine to block them.
It is also good to talk it over with mods, and if possible with the debunker themselves and help us all to improve in how we debunk things for scared people. And sometimes maybe it can lead to new rules or guidelines for the debunkers.
DO NOT MOCK MEMBERS FOR THEIR FEARS
It doesn’t matter what your intention is. It doesn’t matter if you think this is a way to help them.
Please don’t say anything that can be seen as mocking them for their fears.
NO LAUGHING OR MOCKING REACTIONS TO POSTS OR COMMENTS BY PEOPLE WHO ARE SCARED - INCLUDING TEXT EMOJIS AND LAUGHING OR MOCKING ACRONYMS AS WELL AS FACEBOOK REACTS
Someone who is panicking may be in a sensitive frame of mind. You may feel that if only they could laugh, they may get out of their panic - but it doesn't work like that. We don't know of any case where a laugh react has helped a scared person and many situations where it has made them upset and panic more.
This rule also applies to text emojis such as :D when it’s clearly meant as a laugh react, and to acronyms such as LMFAO, LMAO, LOL, ROFL, LMHO, LSMH, OMG (where it’s clearly meant in a laughing or mocking way).
This rule also applies to mocking emojis such as facepalm / FP.
First time you do this a moderator will contact you via PM and explain the rule. They will ask you to remove the react.
The only way to stop it is a ban sadly because nowadays Facebook gives us no way
to stop even non members from reacting. But this will only be done in an extreme case such as someone who constantly laughs at fears in the group and can't be contacted or won’t stop.
PLEASE DON’T DISMISS PEOPLE’S FEARS - E.G. PLEASE DON’T DISMISS THEIR FEARS OF SHORT VIDEOS ON TIKTOK - GENTLY REMIND THEM THAT THEY ARE NOT RELIABLE BUT NOT JUST DISMISS
This is part of the rule on respect. We respect people for who they are, they don’t have to change and become a different person to ask for our help.
As an example, many people get very scared by short TikTok videos. If you are used to reliable sourcing and are scientific and logical in your mind you may find it hard to understand why anyone would be scared by a random person who knows nothing saying something on the internet.
However it is clear that TikTok videos do impress many people. Perhaps it's to do with their appearance perhaps, tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions, how many views and likes they have. When asked they can't explain why they find the videos convincing.
But they don't see random people in the street or crowd in the same way so I don't know what it is about a short video clip on TikTok that is so much more convincing than someone shouting something out in a crowd. Whatever it is hopefully this effect will wear away with time as society gets more used to short videos and realizes that most of them are nonsense.
But meanwhile - please show respect and not be dismissive of their fears because they got scared on TikTok.
It IS appropriate to remind them over and over that TikTok is not reliable and to debunk individual videos.
It IS NOT appropriate to suggest that in some way they are stupid or gullible or that they shouldn’t be affected in this way. That is being dismissive of their fears.
They are responding in an intuitive way to the videos which is maladaptive to TikTok and YouTube short videos. However, it may well be very well adapted to other situations they encounter in real life or other situations. They may well be able to handle other situations better than you as a result of this adaptation whatever it is.
NO PUBLIC AMATEUR DIAGNOSIS OF MEMBERS MENTAL CONDITIONS / PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS - AND NO DISCLOSURE OF PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSES WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION
No public diagnosis of a member for mental conditions / psychiatric disorders. Even if we were able to do it, and we are not, it would be confidential and only disclosed with express permission of the member.
Also members may sometimes share professional diagnoses with you via PM - please treat such information as confidential, only to be shared with thteir permission.
IF SOMEONE IS SCARED - DON'T TELL THEM THE THING THEY ARE SCARED OF IS TRUE WITHOUT CHECKING
Example, the story saying that we are headed for a world without insects. Even though it was on the TV news, it had no basis for it, the research was very low quality and didn't support its conclusions.
So, if someone says "I'm scared we are headed for a world without insects by 2050" please don't just say "Yes that's right I heard it on TV".
. New research does NOT mean a world without insects
If they say "I'm scared the president is the antichrist" please don't answer "yes he is" even if that is your belief (every US president gets a watertight "proof" that they are the antichrist - it comes with the job bascially).
This is not the place to share scary opinions and beliefs of your own.
ALSO DON'T TELL A SCARED PERSON THE THING THEY ARE SCARED OF IS FALSE WITHOUT FACT CHECKING
It's okay to say a simple encouragement "That's not true" if e.g. you've read a debunk but can't remember all the details or don't have time to say more. But please don't answer saying something is false just on the basis of wanting to reassure someone without knowing the truth yourself.
Also, we don't sugar coat. If someone is scared of something that is real, e.g. COVID, or sea level rise, then try to give the most accurate information you can find. Or help them to find good sources of information (e.g. US CDC or the WHO for COVID and the IPCC report on the ocean and cryosphere for sea level rise). Or tag or PM another member who can give them the help they need.
You can still help by letting them talk through their fears, and help them with a panic attack etc if you don't know anything on the topic.
IF YOU ARE TRULY SCARED OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO POST HERE
Please do NOT tell someone not to post something to this group. If they are truly scared of something, they have every right to post it here. That’s what this group is for. If the particular story they share has already been debunked, then link them to the debunked story.
Please don’t ask why they need a particular story debunked (e.g. please don’t say “why do you need this debunked? It’s not even scary”).It may not need debunked for you, but that isn’t always the case for other people. Members are allowed to share any story they find scary to this group.
DO NOT DEBUNK DATE SETTING WITH ANOTHER DATE OR BY CRITICISING NIGGLY DETAILS OF CALCULATIONS
We get this from time to time. E.g. (deliberately using past dates to avoid scaring anyone), false prophet X says the world will end in June 1970. A debunker who is thoroughly immersed in the same branch of evangelical Christianity says "This prophecy is false because they got the date of [some Jewish festival] wrong and it has to happen in the autumn not in June."
Or, "You are fine it can't happen in 1970 as I have proved it will happen in 1988 so we have another 18 years".
This sort of thing is kindly intended, but it is liable to scare people here. And it is going directly against warnings in the Bible on date setting. It can be more subtle than that - but basically any attempt at debunking that legitimizes date setting is likely to scare members into saying "When will it end then, who is the true prophet of the end of the world".
You are likely to get many scared comments on such a post.
Post it in the Debunkers and Debaters group instead. Even if it is an elaborate argument against any date setting, it needs care, best to discuss with us first.
But it is absolutely fine to post the Bible passages warning against false prophecies and date setting. And this is a guideline for debunkers. Those scared of such things can of course post them for help.
DO NOT POST LINKS TO ANOTHER GROUP JUST TO LOL AT IT
This is disrespectful to them and not permitted. E.g. please don't post a Nibiru believers group here just to LOL at it. We debunk the ideas but we don't need to disrespect the people who sincerely have come to beleive those ideas.
It is the same with individuals - please no posts about individuals with apocalyptic beliefs just to LOL at them.
DON'T POST LINKS TO CLOSED GROUPS FOR PEOPLE WHOSE IDEAS WE DEBUNK
this is because of the risk of doxxing. Even if you are respectful in your post - if a member goes to the page they will see a list of any friends that belong to the group. This may out them as a believer in "nibiru" or whatever. This is especially likely to happen if we debunk their ideas in our group. Of course they also find out if they search for the group themselves but this is different from encouraging people to click through and then find they have accidentally learnt that some of their friends believe in this nonsense idea.
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO SOMEONE SAYING YOU CAN'T HELP THEM
The group is set up to help scared people. If you don't feel that you can help a particular person please just do not comment. If you reply saying you can't help or are not going to help, that scares people. It is hard to think of any situation where saying this would be helpful.
Please remember people who panic do not think clearly. Some of our members also may be severely autistic or have learning difficulties. Such people are especially hard to help when they are panicking.
If you don't have the patience to answer, or don't see how they can be helped at all, please just say nothing and leave it for those who feel they can help. If there is any issue with the post of an administrative nature please discuss this with me via PM rather than on the post. Thanks!
DO NOT TELL OTHERS TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THEIR FEARS
We want to encourage members to talk and feel at home in a place where others will listen to them.
For instance telling a member to "shut up" when they are scared is not acceptable.
This may seem to be helpful. However, when told to stop talking, members usually are still scared, just no longer able to tell us what scares them.
As part of our principles of respect and patience for all members of the group we want to foster a situation where others feel they can talk to us when they are scared.
MUTES ARE NOT A PUNISHMENT
If we need to mute people, it is not a punishment for what they did. Just a practical matter, we mute to stop whatever they are doing that breaks the group rules, not to punish the attacker.
Many of the rules are about things that are not in themselves wrong but are just not permitted in this group, by our group rules, e.g. posting about future dates to give a good example.
INCREASING MUTES RULE
Some members break a rule, are muted, sincerely agree to keep to the rule, then within a day or two break it again. We don't doubt their sincerity. After careful explanation they understand but the same happens again and again and they find it hard to see the pattern until it is explained, over and again. It is a kind of blindspot.
These new guidelines are not meant as a form of punishment. It is just a practical thing. Rule breaking disrupts the group and gives the moderators a large workload.
If a member does a post that breaks one of the rules that triggers automatic mutes, such as posting a scary story which they don't want debunked, then
If you have never broken a rule before, and sincerely promise not to do it again it's an immediate unmute.
If you have broken a rule previously, you are automatically muted for one day.
If you have been muted for one day in the previous week you have a seven day mute.
After a week without a mute it reverts to one day unmutes
After a month without a mute it reverts to normal immediate unmute
All this is at the moderators discretion - they take into account whether it is a minor or major rule break, whether it is the same or a similar rule to the pevious one, and anything else relevant.
In rare situations, on moderator's discretion, 14 or 28 day mutes may be used - only for very persistent rule breaks.
FOR JOURNALISTS, PODCASTERS, PUBLIC FIGURES ETC
Although this is a public group, we ask you to not publicise any names of our group members without their permission.
If you want to share stories from the group please clear it with me or the moderators, as well as with the original posters you wish to quote.
This is especially important in view of the vulnerable nature of some of our members. Thanks!
MY ARTICLES AS A RESOURCE
My doomsday debunking blog is here
I have a list of all the articles here.
List of articles in my Debunking Doomsday blog to date
To see if I've already debunked a story, search the list using Ctrl + F (on Windows) - or take a look at the most recent posts (may be answered already if it is breaking news).
You can copy / paste material from my articles into your debunks, no need to put in quotes and for things like answering people's comments, no need for attribution as explained on that page.
FOR EVERYONE
The posts don't have to be always about doomsday. A bit of light relief is okay from time to time, so long as it doesn't take over the group.
PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH REPETITIVE POSTS - THINK OF EACH NEW POST AS A NEW PANIC ATTACK
Some members get really scared and have many panic attacks. When that happens, debunkers please be patient. People who panic don't think as clearly as they do otherwise. They often ask the same question over and over again. It may not seem that we are helping them but each new question is a new panic attack, we helped them get over the previous one and all that has happened is they panicked again. Eventually over weeks and months sometimes, usually faster if they have help from therapists, they get over it.
The only rule we have here is to avoid overwhelming the group with new posts. Sometimes people will post the same question again and again many times a day. If you want to do that, please ask us via PM or join this group set up especially for you:
. Okay to ask same questions over and over - Doomsday Debunked
In the main group then it is okay to reply reptitively to the same post. But please, not lots of new posts per day.
As a guideline, if you ask the same question once a day then that's not overwhelming the main group. The main problem with posting many times a day is that debunkers will have to copy their comments over from your previous post if they have the same response - and the many posts all from you will make it harder for others to find the post that intersts you.
If you do it only once a day then it shouldn't be a problem
THIS IS NOT A GROUP FOR PREPPERS
- if you post here about ways to survive the end of the world, your post will be deleted.
CLOSED DOOMSDAY DEBUNKED GROUPS
. No Scary Posts - ~Doomsday Debunked - only debunks posted here. You can't post a story if not yet debunked - but can send it to members via PM to ask them to do a debunk and post to the group.
. Closed version of Doomsday Debunked- same as Doomsday Debunked, it's for people who don't want the things they post to be visible to anyone outside the group. E.g. if you are scared but don't want your posts to be visible to friends, colleagues, people at work or whatever
No Debunking and No Scary Posts - for people who get scared very easily. No debunks either. No mentions of future dates or anything, even debunked. A place to chat to other members and know you won't see any future dates.
Debaters and Debunkers - this is a group where nobody is going to be scared by future dates - e.g. okay to joke about being raptures, or just generally be silly without worrying that someone reading what you wrote is in a panic attack or suicidal - also if you have some minority view theory about the world ending or whatever that you believe strongly and don't just want help debunking it - you can come here and debate it with us without scaring members of the group.
DON'T ADVERTISE CONTENT FROM ANY OF THE CLOSED DOOMSDAY DEBUNKED GROUPS HERE
It is going to be either private, or for the Debaters group, posted elsewhere because they are potentially scary, either way don't want people here to have to go to another group to read it. If they are in the other group they wil see it. And if not, what's the point in telling them about it? It means they have to go to that other group (and join it) to see it, and they may not wish to do so.If it is appropriate to post it here, post it here. Otherwise don't mention it here.
OTHER FACEBOOK GROUPS
As part of our principles of respect and patience for all members of the group we want to foster a situation where others feel they can talk to us when they are scared. e group.
These pages are useful for checking scientific things e.g. if someone shares an image / video with something thy claim is a planet or whatever.
. Voices Of Reason To Explain X - V.O.R.T.E.X. | Facebook
POSITIVE NEWS DOOMSDAY DEBUNKED PAGE
If you post a postive news story to the main group we can repost it to this page - and you can also submit your own posts to the page.
It is for positive stories on topic for the group.
. Positive News - Doomsday Debunked
DEBUNKERS LIST
There's a list of members of the group who can debunk things, or help by offering reassurance. All of them are happy being sent PM's if you are scared.
ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES POSTED AS #DDRULES
NOTE we have additional rules, and guidelines, posted from time to time to the group with the hashtag #DDRULES
SEVEN TIPS FOR DEALING WITH DOOMSDAY FEARS
See also my
. Seven tips for dealing with doomsday fears
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