Whitman-Walker Health

Social Media Commenting Policy

Welcome! Whitman-Walker maintains social media channels as a service to our supporters who wish to keep updated on news from WWH and possibly share information with one another. We are glad to have you join us!

We have some simple reminders and rules for you to ensure that your use of our social media channels is beneficial to you!

Please remember that our social media channels are not secure means of communication and are maintained by Communications staff and not patient services or medical providers. Feel free to send feedback or general questions to these accounts; but do not send confidential medical or billing information. Also, don’t disclose any personal information, particularly personal identifiers such as home address, phone number, e-mail or other address here.

For your privacy, we are unable to offer comment or recommendations for individual care. To discuss your care, please call 202.745.7000 and ask to speak to the appropriate staff member, or make an appointment with your provider.

Although we will not disclose or discuss confidential information, we may respond to or retweet public mentions or comments. Please consider this when choosing to self-identify as a patient or comment on services you've received at WWH.

Also, please note that following a user, being followed by a user, or sharing another user’s content does not represent an endorsement by WWH nor does it indicate that that person is a patient, donor, or affiliate of the organization. And ALWAYS discuss information you read online with your provider before making any medical or mental health decisions.

Whitman-Walker Health does not endorse, nor is it responsible for, comments posted by our followers.

Now, we have a few simple rules to follow. Not following them could get you banned. And we really don’t want to do that. So make sure you follow these rules:

1. Under 16? We recommend that you participate only with the supervision of a parent or guardian.

2. Don’t break the law! That includes any international, federal, state or local laws. You may also not post anything that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party.

3. Tell the truth. Don’t post things that aren’t true. Don’t impersonate another person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.

4. Don’t solicit! No unauthorized advertising, promotions, junk mail, spam or any kind of solicitation.

5. Stay on topic. We want to have dialogue with and between our followers, so it’s important to stay on topic when commenting. Also, please include supporting information to back up your comment. Opinions are great; facts to back them up rock!

6. Play nice. No stalking, harassing or invading someone else’s privacy. No threats. No abusive or defamatory language. No vulgarity or obscenity. No hate speech. Nothing that violates any rules on online conduct and acceptable content. And NOTHING that harms minors in any way!

7. No viruses or malware! See #3 above.

8. No collection or storage of personal data about other users. See #3, 5 and 7 above.

For WWH employees and volunteers:

1. All of these rules apply to you too! Be sure you know WWH’s Social Media Policy for employees and volunteers.

2. If it’s on the Internet, it lives forever. Don’t post something that will come back to haunt you later!

3. This is a public forum. Do you want to see your post on the front page of the Washington Post? Then think twice before you post it.

4. Make it clear that it’s YOUR view, not WWH’s official view. Your view and WWH’s may not align. That’s fine. Please make it clear that your post is YOUR personal view.

5. Remember that our Communications department is responsible for consumer inquiries or criticism. Please do not respond to these postings. However, if you see something that does require a response, please notify the Communications department.

By participating in our social media channels, you are agreeing to this commenting policy. If you violate this policy, we may remove your comment from our page or block you from commenting on future threads.

Thank you for your cooperation. To contact Whitman-Walker Health about an issue unrelated to our social media channels, please e-mail info@whitman-walker.org.