Dear Local Guides!
As our Connect community continues to grow, it is up to all of us to keep this space helpful, respectful, and welcoming for everyone. One of the best tools we have to maintain the quality of our community is the Flag feature.
However, knowing exactly when to use it—and when to hold off—can sometimes be confusing. I’ve put together this quick guide (and a handy poster!) to help us all use the flagging tool responsibly.
WHEN TO FLAG CONTENT
If you see a post or comment that violates community guidelines, please don’t hesitate to flag it. The moderation team relies on us!
- Spam & Unwanted Promotion: Repeated, irrelevant posts, or content that is purely trying to sell a product, service, or personal business.
- Harassment or Bullying: Direct attacks, insults, threats, or intimidation aimed at another Local Guide. Connect is a safe space, and toxic behavior should always be reported.
- Inappropriate or Explicit Content: Graphic imagery, sexual content, or any media that is not safe for a general, public audience.
- Hate Speech: Any content that promotes discrimination, violence, or hatred based on race, religion, gender, or other protected attributes.
- Plagiarism & Copyright Violations: If someone is consistently posting photos or text that clearly belong to someone else (without credit or permission), it should be flagged.
WHEN TO AVOID FLAGGING
The flag button is for reporting rule violations, not for expressing a personal opinion. Here is when you should skip the flag button:
- Healthy Disagreements: Differing opinions are what make a community great! If you disagree with someone’s review style or mapping preference, reply respectfully rather than flagging.
- Simple Typos or Mistakes: A minor spelling error, a slightly inaccurate fact, or a misunderstanding doesn’t violate any rules. You can gently point out the mistake in a comment instead.
- Personal Dislike: Just because you don’t enjoy a specific topic or don’t get along with a certain user doesn’t mean their content should be removed.
- Occasional Off-Topic Chatter: While we want to keep posts relevant, a harmless, friendly tangent in the comments doesn’t need to be reported unless it completely derails the conversation into spam.
- Revenge Flagging: Never use the flag tool to annoy another user, retaliate after an argument, or try to silence someone you disagree with. This abuses the system and harms the community.
How to Flag a Post/comment
To flag a post or a comment (reply) that violates community guidelines on Local Guides Connect, you can follow these steps:
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Locate the specific topic or reply you want to report, and click on the three dots in the bottom right corner of the post.
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Click on the flag icon.
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A window will pop up prompting you to select a reason for reporting the content. Choose the most accurate category, such as spam, off-topic, inappropriate, illegal, or something else.
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If you select “It’s illegal” or “Something else,” you will need to provide a brief explanation in the provided text box.
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Click “Submit the flag”.
Once submitted, a Google Moderator will carefully review the flagged content to determine if it violates policies and will take appropriate action if necessary.
A Good Rule of Thumb:
Before you click the flag icon, ask yourself: “Does this post break the core rules of Connect, or do I just disagree with it?”
Let’s all work together to keep Connect an inspiring and supportive place to share our local discoveries.
