HRP Mamas Online Community Guidelines
Welcome to the HRP Mamas online community! Since 2004, our message boards have been a place where mothers in Manhattan come together to share advice, resources, and support. To keep our community safe, welcoming, and genuinely useful for everyone, we ask all members to read and follow the guidelines below.
We reserve the right to moderate, suspend, or terminate participation in our message boards due to violations of these policies, and to update our policies at any time.
Rules of Conduct
Our community is only as wonderful as the way we treat each other — and we think it's pretty wonderful! Here's what we ask of every member:
- Be kind — treat all members with kindness, humanity, and respect, both on our message boards and when connecting offline.
- Be civil — refrain from rude, insulting, or aggressive posts. Your posts should be reasonable and compassionate. Ask yourself: would I say this in person?
- Debate ideas, not people — differences of opinion are welcome and enrich our community. Express disagreements respectfully and direct them at ideas, never at individuals.
- Remember we're not anonymous — post as if you're speaking face to face, in the spirit of community. HRP Mamas is, by design, a known and trusted group.
- When in doubt, step back — if you can't be courteous and kind in a given moment, please wait before posting.
- Respect privacy — do not forward message board posts to third parties or reproduce them in any way. Do not include private emails from others in your posts.
- Embrace our diversity — be mindful and respectful of the diversity of race, age, ethnicity, income, and sexual orientation reflected in our group.
- Keep recommendations honest — all recommendations and reviews should be based on first-hand experience and be free of any personal or business conflict of interest.
- Exercise good judgment — these guidelines aren't exhaustive. Members are expected to act with good judgment and respect for the HRP Mamas mission at all times.
Failure to adhere to these rules may result in posts being deleted and/or membership being moderated, suspended, or terminated, at the sole discretion of the HRP Mamas Board of Directors.
Posting Guidelines
The Basics
- Sign your posts — please include your first name. Many mamas also include their children's names and ages, which is helpful context for those offering advice.
- No business or promotional signatures — please remove business signatures, social media handles, and auto-generated footers (e.g. "Sent from my iPhone") before posting.
- Reply by thread — please respond within existing threads rather than starting new ones for the same topic.
- Use clear subject lines — when starting a new topic, use a subject line that clearly describes what you're asking or sharing.
- Reply privately when appropriate — if your response is intended for one person only, please reply directly to them rather than to the whole group.
- No chain letters, spam, or advertisements.
- No ALL CAPS — it reads as shouting!
- No political messaging — please do not use the message boards for political purposes.
- Respect copyright — when sharing written material from outside sources, please share a link and a brief description only — not full reproductions of articles or posts.
- Health disclaimer — information shared on our boards is not a substitute for professional medical advice. For any health concerns — yours or your child's — please consult a qualified healthcare provider.
- Protect member information — do not use email addresses acquired through our platform for commercial, marketing, or self-promotional purposes, or to email members directly for commercial reasons.
Sharing Negative Experiences
We encourage members to share honest experiences, both positive and negative. When sharing a negative experience, please keep the following in mind:
- Many of our local businesses are run by fellow neighborhood parents. Consider reaching out to the business owner directly first — a private conversation often leads to a faster resolution.
- Use a neutral subject line such as "My Experience at [Business Name]" — this leaves room for others to share positive experiences too.
- Keep your review courteous, constructive, and free of derogatory language toward individuals.
- Do not post more than one review about the same negative experience.
- Do not use our platform to threaten or intentionally damage a business — this will not be tolerated.
- Posts involving legal matters, criminal allegations, or allegations of negligence or fraud cannot be accepted.
- Remember: each member is solely responsible for the content of her own posts.
Where to Post:
💬 Mamas Advice & Discussion Board [Downtown], Papas, Central Park Mamas
Use those groups for general discussions, questions, and conversations — motherhood, fatherhood, parenting, child development, health, neighborhood life, current events, school issues, and anything else on your mind as a parent.
Please do not post classified-type posts on the main board.
🏷️ Classifieds Board [Downtown]
The Classifieds board is for transaction-based and household/childcare posts, including:
- Buying, selling, or trading new and used items
- Household & childcare help — looking for or referring nannies, sitters, tutors, housekeepers, and similar
- Real estate — looking for, selling, renting, or subletting (not for use by brokers or for friends' listings)
- Giveaways — giving away items or similar offers
💬Childcare Group
Use this group for recommending or seeking recommendations for caregivers, nannies, night nannies, and household help.
Commercial Post Policy
HRP Mamas does not allow commercial posts or solicitations of any kind on any of our groups. Our platform is a peer-to-peer support community — not a professional networking or advertising tool.
What counts as a commercial post?
The following are not permitted on any HRP Mamas group:
- Self-promotion of any kind — if you own a business, sell products, or provide services, you may not promote these on our boards, even in response to a thread
- Promotion of or links to books, blogs, websites, social media pages, or new product launches
- Market research of any kind, including polls intended to inform a business venture
- Press releases
- Group discounts, coupons, freebies, or sample sales
- Giveaways or raffles
- Referral codes or promo codes
- Marketing or launch emails forwarded to the group
- Kickstarter or similar crowdfunding campaigns
- Requests for subjects, volunteers, or participants by journalists, writers, researchers, or artists
- Business or promotional display names or signatures in posts
- Multi-level marketing recruiting or sales events
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does HRP Mamas have a commercial post policy? Our community has thrived since 2004 because it's free of commercial motivations and conflicts. Members come here for unbiased, first-hand advice and honest recommendations — and that trust is only possible when our boards are kept free of commercial interests.
Can I recommend my own business in response to a thread? No. Members may not recommend their own business, service, blog, website, or social media page — even in response to a direct query. This also applies to businesses owned by your partner, spouse, or family members.
Can I recommend a friend's business? Yes, but only if your recommendation is genuinely based on first-hand experience, and only in response to a recent relevant thread. Please disclose your connection to the person you're recommending.
Can I respond to a post that mentions my business? No. Our message boards are not the place to promote or defend your business. Members should feel free to share their experiences openly.
Can I pass along a discount, coupon, or group deal? No — this counts as a commercial post.
Can I do market research or poll the group for a business idea? No — this is considered using the boards for commercial purposes and is not permitted.
Can I organize a group event with an outside instructor? Yes! Member-organized educational events (such as yoga, baby massage, cooking, or language classes where costs are shared) are welcome. Please email us at membership@hudsonriverparkmothersgroup.com before posting to confirm your event meets our criteria. Events centered on product sales are not permitted.
Can I post about a local community event or fundraiser? Yes! We love supporting local non-profit and community events. Please send details to community_events@hrpmamas.org and our team will review for inclusion. We're also happy to co-sponsor select charity events, awareness campaigns, and educational initiatives — reach out and let us know what you care about!
How can a local business reach the HRP Mamas community? HRP Mamas offers a community subscriber email blast program for qualified local businesses. Please note that we do not offer advertising to web-based platforms, apps, online media, blogs, subscription services, social networks, or businesses that serve as agencies for third-party providers. Interested businesses can email ads@hudsonriverparkmothersgroup.com for more information.
Does HRP Mamas share my contact information with businesses? Never. HRP Mamas will never share your email address or contact information with third parties or sell our mailing list. If you believe you've received unwanted commercial email from a fellow member, please let us know so we can look into it.
I'm a journalist with an article I think would interest the group — can I share it? Please email it to us for review. Please do not post it directly to the boards.
I'm a journalist, researcher, or artist looking for participants — can I post a query? Please email membership@hudsonriverparkmothersgroup.com with your query.
Guidelines for Journalists, Bloggers, Researchers & Artists
HRP Mamas is a safe space where mothers share openly and honestly with one another. To protect that trust, we ask that anyone reading our boards — in any professional capacity — follow these principles:
- Do not reproduce or forward posts — forwarding or reproducing message board posts or private follow-up exchanges to any outside media, without the expressed approval of the author, violates our Terms of Service and may result in termination of membership.
- Respect the spirit of our community — members post to connect with fellow mamas, not to provide content for articles, blogs, or research. Please be mindful of that when reading our boards.
Thank you for being part of our community and for helping us keep it the warm, trusted, and authentic space it has always been. 💛
— HRP Mamas hrpmamas.com | hrpmamasgroups.com