Community Guidelines · HelpAnExpat
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Community Guidelines

The pact that holds us together

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HelpAnExpat is a community of people living far from home. When you signed up, you accepted our terms of service. These guidelines are something different: they are how we want to treat each other.

If you've lived abroad for even a single month, you know what it means to look for a room in a city you don't know, to figure out how the healthcare system works, to find someone you can speak your own language with. This platform exists so that all of this can be a little less hard for the people who come after you.

Read these guidelines carefully. They are short, but they are the heart of how HelpAnExpat works.

The 5 core principles

Help the way you'd have wanted to be helped

Every post you read was written by someone who, at another point in their life, was in the same situation you are in right now. And every answer you give might change another expat's day.

In practice:

  • If you know the answer to a question, take two minutes to reply
  • If you know a useful resource (a website, an accountant, a quiet neighbourhood), share it
  • If someone asks a basic question, remember that for them it isn't basic at all

Don't:

  • "Just Google it" is not an answer
  • "This has been discussed in a thousand other threads" doesn't help anyone (at most, link those threads)

Be specific, not generic

Vague advice is worth zero. Specific advice is worth gold. The people reading your posts are about to make real decisions (signing a rental contract, accepting a job, choosing a neighbourhood).

In practice:

  • Always name the neighbourhood, not just "in the city"
  • State the price you actually paid, not "it's not that expensive"
  • Name the agency, the doctor, the accountant
  • Specify when you had that experience ("in 2024", not "a few years ago")

Don't:

  • "Berlin is expensive" → how much? for whom? which area?
  • "I had problems with that landlord" → what happened, exactly?

Respect people, even when you disagree

We are expats from different nationalities, religions, political views, lifestyles. On HelpAnExpat we come together to help each other live better in a country that isn't ours. Everything else stays outside.

In practice:

  • Criticise ideas, not people
  • If someone writes in imperfect English, don't correct them unless they ask
  • If someone has just arrived and asks "obvious" questions, remember when you were the new one

We do not tolerate:

  • Personal insults, even "joking" ones
  • Stereotypes about nationalities, ethnicities, religions (even your own)
  • Political arguments about the home or host country that don't relate to expat practical life
  • Sarcasm that humiliates the person who asked

No spam, no disguised promotion

HelpAnExpat works because the content is authentic. When someone recommends a restaurant, we want to be sure it's because they ate well there, not because their cousin owns it.

In practice:

  • If you run a business, declare it openly when you talk about it
  • If you're a real estate agent, accountant, or consultant, mention it in your profile
  • If you want to promote your service, contact us: dedicated options will come in the future

We do not tolerate:

  • Multiple accounts to fake conversations
  • Fake reviews (positive or negative)
  • Hidden affiliate links
  • Repeatedly posting the same content across multiple communities
  • Unsolicited commercial direct messages

Protect other people's privacy (and your own)

On HelpAnExpat we talk about personal experiences, problems with employers, conflicts with landlords, bureaucratic struggles. That's normal, but it requires care.

In practice:

  • Don't publish full names of private individuals in negative contexts
  • Don't publish phone numbers, private addresses, or third parties' documents
  • Don't share screenshots of private conversations without consent
  • Think twice before posting your phone number in a public post (use direct messages instead)

The six areas and what we expect

Each community is divided into six areas. Each one has its own character.

General Information

Bureaucracy, healthcare, transport, taxes. Be precise on dates (laws change) and state whether your experience is recent or from a few years ago.

Housing

If you're looking for a place, write your budget, preferred area, length of stay, number of people. If you're offering a place, write the price, area, size, photos. No scams: anyone asking for deposits before signing a contract is almost always a scammer. Report them.

Jobs

If you're looking for work, state your sector, experience, languages spoken. If you're offering a job, state the salary, contract type, location. Job offers without a salary mentioned are suspect: the community notices.

Cultural Information

Local traditions, events, cultural differences. A space for those who want to better understand the country they live in, not for stereotypes or generic complaints.

Meetups and Community

For organising drinks, sports groups, community events. Always specify date, time, location, language of the meetup.

Restaurants and Venues

Review like you'd talk to a friend: what you ate, how much you spent, how the service was. If you know the owner or work there, declare it.

Voting, reporting, blocking

When to upvote a post:
When it was useful to you, when it teaches something, when an answer is precise.
When to downvote:
Only if the content is inaccurate or off-topic. Not because you disagree: dissent is expressed with a comment, not with a vote against.
When to report:
When you see something that violates these guidelines. Reports are anonymous. Don't use them as "revenge" on a user you've argued with: anyone who does loses the right to report.
When to block another user:
When you'd rather not read their content or receive their messages. It's a personal choice, not a judgement. If you feel harassed, block first, then report.

What happens if you break the guidelines

We don't love automatic bans. When something goes wrong, this is usually what happens:

  1. First time, minor breach

    The content is removed. You receive an email explaining which guideline you violated.

  2. Repeat or serious breach

    Account temporarily suspended (7 to 30 days).

  3. Serious or repeated misconduct

    Account permanently deleted. This includes: scams, harassment, hate speech, multiple accounts for manipulation, systematic spam.

Disputed decisions

If you believe a decision is wrong, write to us at [email protected]. Every decision is reviewed by a person, not by an algorithm.

A note on this community

HelpAnExpat is young. The guidelines you read today are a starting point, not a finish line. As the community grows, these rules will evolve with it.

If you have an idea to improve them, write to us. The people who build a community are the ones who make it a place worth coming back to.

Welcome.

— The HelpAnExpat team
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