Last updated: 13 January 2023
Here’s the deal. We have one goal, and one goal only, and that’s to create a space for 100 per cent off-the-cuff, spontaneous conversations. Because social media platforms aren’t actually social at all—and we’re not okay with that.
On Stereo, we want you to be your real selves, not your highlight reel selves. To talk about the weird and wonderful. The irreverent and irrelevant. The mundane to the mind-blowing.
We dream of the day when every convo can take place without interruption, but there will always be folks who bring negativity to the party. And while we’ve dedicated a team of real people who work hard to stop bad behavior, we could always use your help. Reporting bad behavior helps everyone on the app have a better time. So if you hear something, say something by reporting it to us. Based on what we find, we may take a number of actions at any time, from ending or removing a talk, to temporarily disabling an account—to even banning an account entirely.
And that’s just one of many reasons why we have to lay down some basic rules that all of our community is held to. We know that conversations can be messy, humans are dynamic and we’re pioneering a new type of social experience—so things are bound to change over time. And if they do, we’ll be sure to fill you in along the way.
Now without further ado, let’s talk guidelines.
Let’s talk about you:
- 13+: Like many movies and your other favorite social apps, Stereo is 13+. If you are under the age of 18 on Stereo, we recommend checking out our Teen Resources page here.
- Keep it real: There’s no spam allowed on Stereo, and that includes fake or bot accounts created for the purposes of offering promotions or unsolicited content. And because we want you to come as you are, that also means that impersonation is not allowed and that using someone else’s account is also off-limits. Third-party tools or software for voice distortion or text-to-speech functionality are also prohibited. If tools like these are important to help you to get the most out of Stereo, we’d love to hear from you so we can work with our team on potential solutions.
- One account is all you need: Stereo members are permitted one account and one account only. Having multiple conversations from different profiles or having more than one account is against our rules—it’s too confusing. We take removals from Stereo seriously and attempting to evade guidelines or recreate a profile that has been temporarily disabled or removed can result in a permanent ban.
- You’re here to talk: Stereo is about connecting through conversation, not selling your NFTs (or other products). We also want to note that if your Talk isn’t an active conversation, it could be ended or disabled. The same goes for Soundbites without any sound. Multiple violations of this policy may result in removal from the app.
Let’s talk about keeping things civil:
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Respect each other: We expect everyone on Stereo to respect each other, full stop. We do not tolerate Talks, messages or other content that encourages violence, bullying, hatred or harm against an individual or a group of individuals on the basis of age, body type, disability, ethnicity, gender, intellect, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. There are a few other behaviors we want to call out, too:
- Don’t doxx: Content or Talks that reveal or threaten to reveal personally identifiable information of someone else without their explicit permission or participation is off-limits.
- Don’t ruin the vibe: Our comment feature is intended to help more people contribute to Talks, not to purposefully disrupt them. Trolling isn’t a good look (ever!) and isn’t allowed on Stereo.
- Respect our team, too: Respect is also expected when communicating with our Stereo Support Team, whether that’s via email, in-app support or elsewhere. Threatening, harassing or engaging in otherwise disrespectful behavior toward our team may result in a permanent ban.
- No fake reports: Submitting purposely false incident reports to our team makes it harder for us to focus on real reports and is also considered a form of bullying or harassment.
- No hate: We hope we don’t have to explain this, but hateful content or promoting violence or organized crime, including terrorism and extremism, is not okay. This includes conversations that speak positively of hate groups, individuals associated with those groups or the use of related slogans, symbols or salutes. We also do not permit content that praises violent tragedies and/or disparages their victims.
Let’s talk about sensitive subject matters:
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Self-injury or harm: We care about our members, and prohibit content or interactions that support, encourage or promote acts of physical or mental harm — for example, cutting, eating disorders, or suicide. We understand the importance of mental health and how open conversation can help in removing the stigma associated with these topics. With this in mind, we do allow members to talk about suicide and self-injury in a way that helps raise awareness about these issues.
- If you need support for any of these issues, it’s available. We encourage individuals who are struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, or who know someone is seriously considering self-harm/suicide, to immediately contact local emergency services or a suicide prevention hotline like Befrienders Worldwide or Findahelpline.com which are global resources for free, confidential help.
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Sexual content and exploitation: We don’t allow explicit sexual content that is not for the purpose of education or discussion. To break this down a bit more:
- Harmful content: You may not share or promote information that is intended or likely to cause harm to any person or groups of people. That can mean non-consensual content (for example, private recordings shared without permission containing sexual content) or content promoting or portraying sexual assault.
- Solicitation: Solicitation is not permitted on Stereo. Plain and simple.
- Minors: The points above unconditionally apply to minors (e. g.: solicitation or sexualization of children).
- The fine print: Violating these guidelines goes beyond Stereo; sexualized content can risk your safety and violate local laws, triggering legal penalties in some locations.
- False or misleading information: Using the app to spread or attempt to spread false or misleading information or news surrounding major world events, natural disasters, politics, and medical advice (including Covid-19 misinformation) is against our rules.
- Intellectual property: Using or sharing materials (including music) that violate or infringe someone else’s copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights is not allowed. All original content shared on Stereo must be owned by that person alone.
- One more thing: Content that is violently graphic or is likely to traumatize or shock Stereo members is prohibited.
Let’s talk about (not) breaking the law
Let’s talk about what’s next
If you have any questions, please submit them via the “Help” section to chat in-app or send a message through our contact form here. You can also email support@stereo.com to reach our team.
For any reminders, these guidelines are also available in-app by visiting Settings → Help.
We hope you’re excited to be a part of the Stereo community. If you experience anything that goes against our guidelines, just let us know and we’ll do our part. Now go forth, and talk like you’ve never talked before.