Oprah.com House Rules

Whether this is your first time on-line or you're a seasoned Internet user, we require respect and good manners from everyone when participating in our Message Boards and O Group communities. Review our House Rules, use common sense, and you'll feel right at home.

The community on Oprah.com was created to provide a place where people committed to living their best lives, personal growth and generating positive, thoughtful dialogue can find one another for support, comfort and shared experiences. While we invite healthy debate, Oprah.com is not intended as a forum for personal attacks and destructive postings. If that is your intention in posting on this site, we invite you to go elsewhere.

All users are required to adhere to the following "House Rules." If we become aware that a user has violated the House Rules or other posted Oprah.com policies, that user's account may be immediately and permanently suspended, without warning or other notice.


Post at Your Own Risk
You participate at your own risk on the Message Boards, O Groups and via e-mail. You take responsibility for postings under your identification and use the information you provide at your own risk. Oprah.com takes no responsibility for the content or opinions posted.

All Posts Are Subject to Review
While we do not review all postings and are under no obligation to do so, we reserve the right to accept, reject, remove or edit any postings in our sole discretion, including those that are off the subject, not in English or that contain personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, impersonations, third party links or that violate the Oprah.com House Rules.

Abide by Our Rules
By posting to any portion of Oprah.com, you agree to abide by Oprah.com's Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Use common sense and have a wonderful time at Oprah.com.

No Obscene or Hateful Language
We live by words online, so we don't allow obscene, profane, racist or sexually explicit language. You may not harass, defame or threaten another person. We do not allow posts that defame or insult anyone, and notes that are abusive or hateful. All postings must reflect your genuinely held beliefs and may not be false or misleading.

No Solicitations or Advertisements
You may not post any content for commercial purposes. Such notes add clutter and devalue conversations. This includes advertisements for your business, the latest get-rich-quick scheme and solicitations for a charity. Unfortunately, it is impossible to verify the validity of each and every organization that solicits donations; therefore, in an effort to protect Oprah.com users from fraud, we must prohibit solicitations for charities.

No External Links
In an effort to provide a safe online experience for Oprah.com Members, posting of non-Oprah.com URLs or links is prohibited. This includes spelling out a URL such as "www dot oprah dot com".

No Illegal Activity
You may not suggest or encourage illegal or violent activity. Oprah.com will assist law enforcement officials.

All Materials Must Be Copyrighted
You must have copyright ownership of all material that you post on our Message Boards and O Groups. Please review the terms and conditions. No articles, recipes, song lyrics, art or graphics may be posted unless you are the exclusive license holder with the right to post on this site or you are copyright holder. By posting such information, you represent and warrant that you are the exclusive license holder with the express right to post the information on this site or are the exclusive license holder.

No Personal Information
For your safety and privacy, please do not post personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers, last names or any other private information.

Age Requirement
Online safety is of utmost importance at Oprah.com. For this reason, you must be 16 years old or older to participate. Any posts from someone who is under that age will be removed. If you are under the age of 18, you should obtain parental consent before participating in any Oprah.com message board or O Group.

Foreign-Language O Groups
If you'd like to conduct an online O Group in a language other than English, please make it a private O Group.

Post a Message Only Once
Good manners online means that you don't post the same note more than once.

Archiving and Read Only Discussions
Oprah.com reserves the right to Archive or make any discussion "Read Only" at any time at its sole and exclusive discretion, including, without limitation, any postings or discussions that are disruptive in nature or are in contravention of any posted policies.

Report a Problem:
If you feel that someone in your discussion or O Group is behaving in an inappropriate manner, please let us know. Send an e-mail with the Report Abuse form and an Oprah.com staff member will look into the problem.

Technical Problems:
Are you having technical problems using Oprah.com or a tool on our site? Email our Technical Help: https://www.oprah.com/plugform.jsp?plugId=67