Welcome to the Women in Public Life Politics Group, your chance to keep up to date on Guernsey politics, understand it in more detail and share your interest with other women.
Please read this guide to understand what the rules are and how to get the best out of your experience.
1. Introduction
2. The rules
3. What should I post?
4. Health and safety
5. Who are the admins?
6. How do I mute the group?
7. How do I forward a message?
8. How do I reply to someone personally, rather than on the group?
1. Introduction
Politics – Info
The main WhatsApp group that everyone joins is ‘Politics – Info’. This is where Shelaine posts what’s going on in the States – agendas for States meetings, dates of Scrutiny hearings, links to consultations, newly-published reports etc. And for big States debates, you’ll get live updates summarising the speeches. It’s also where you’ll hear about the dates and times for upcoming Politics Group Live sessions.
If you want to comment on a particular Info post, please do so in the Discussion group – we’re trying to keep the Info group as ‘clean’ as possible for those who just want pure information with no chat so it doesn’t accept messages.
Politics – Discussion
The Discussion group is an optional additional WhatsApp group. It’s for people who are keen to discuss political issues with others online. We keep discussion separate from the information group so that important information doesn’t get lost when there’s a flurry of discussion posts on a big topic. Feel free to just observe the discussion, you don’t have to take part – there’s lots to learn from just reading others comments.
2. The rules
a) What’s said in the group, stays in the group: Feel free to pass on any of the posts on Politics – Info about States meetings, events etc if you think they will be useful to others outside the group (unless they are marked ‘Not for broadcast’). But please keep details of who says what in the Politics – Discussion group to yourself so that we can all relax and be ourselves.
b) Protect yourself!: Don’t say anything (in any WhatsApp group) that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the Press. The group is wonderful and respectful but it is still possible that someone could take a screenshot and use it either now or later (particularly relevant to anyone who is thinking of standing).
c) Leave your work at the door: The purpose of the Politics Group is to encourage women’s personal interest in politics, not their professional interest. Please don’t use anything you find out from the group in your professional life and don’t contact anyone in the group for professional reasons (particularly relevant to journalists).
d) Don’t identify anyone: In discussion, it’s often helpful to give an example, or tell a story about someone you know. Make absolutely sure that the person cannot be identified in order to protect their privacy.
e) Challenge unacceptable views: Different opinions are what the Discussion group is all about but occasionally someone may say something you feel is unacceptable, defamatory, discriminatory etc. Make sure you challenge it, either by direct message to the person concerned, or through the Admins – we’re all responsible for the health of the group. Be aware that if you don’t say something, you could be perceived as condoning these views (again, particularly relevant to anyone who is thinking of standing).
f) Please don’t post:
– ‘Outrage’ issues already being discussed prolifically on social media eg pylons
– Issues that you feel a personal need to ‘vent’ about
– Poor support or services you’ve received from the States or others
– Criticism of individual members of the public who have no right of reply
– Requests for advice with personal situations (ask Shelaine direct, she’ll help)
g) Keep it short and sweet: Essays are hard to read on a phone, be brief. In terms of frequency of posting, judge this as you would any conversation. Am I adding value? Is it time to let someone else speak?
h) Be careful when you ping: Remember that each time you post, 200+ phones ping across the island (unless they are muted), which might not be appreciated late at night or early in the morning. Whatever the time of day, if you simply want to agree with someone, hold your finger on the post, and use the ‘thumbs up’ or other emojis that appear. Those little emojis don’t trigger notifications so you won’t ping everyone’s phone.
3. What should I post?
Politics – Info:
The information posted on the Politics – Info group comes from Shelaine. She keeps everyone updated on upcoming States meetings, Scrutiny hearings, relevant events coming up, plus live updates from States meetings and other political events. If you think she’s missed something, drop her a direct message to give her a nudge.
Politics – Discussion:
To kick off a discussion, you could post:
– a media article about a Guernsey political issue
– a question about a Guernsey political issue
– an observation about a Guernsey political issue
If you post a media article, say why you think people should read it, what about it sparked your interest. Make it accessible/interesting to people, don’t just post it without comment.
When you are taking part in a discussion try to add value with a different point of view or a useful link to background information. Examples from other jurisdictions are very welcome.
By ‘political issues’ we mean:
– policies eg the Energy Strategy or the Tax Review
– standard items up for States debate eg Budget, Accounts, Govt Work Plan
– an amendment, sursis or other use of the rules
– membership of committees, code of conduct, deputies behaviour
4. Health and safety
Be aware of how WhatsApp works: As with all WhatsApp groups, your phone number is visible to other members. We have never had any issues with this, just important you are aware.
Look out for scammers: If you get a message seeming to be from a family member saying they’ve lost/dropped their phone, verify this separately, especially if they ask you for money.
5. Who are the admins?
There are two admins for the groups – Shelaine Green and Linda Rolf, both from the Women in Public Life committee. Occasionally they may delete your post because it doesn’t meet the guidelines above or contact you if your post doesn’t fit with these guidelines. Please don’t take offense, they are simply trying to keep the groups healthy and flowing. Their decisions are to be respected at all times, it’s their call.
In the unlikely event of someone needing to be removed from the group, that decision would not taken by the Admins alone, it would be a majority decision of the available members of the Women in Public Life committee.
6. How do I mute the group?
There will be times when the volume of WhatsApp messages may be too much, particularly when a States meeting is in progress. Feel free to mute the group. You will still be able to go back and read the posts later if you want to but you won’t get endless notifications pinging your phone.
To mute any WhatsApp group, go into the group, tap on the group name at the top of the page, scroll down, select ‘mute’ and then choose the length of time you want to mute for.
7. How do I forward a message?
If you want to start a discussion about information that Shelaine has posted on the Politics – Info group, forward it to the Politics – Discussion group first.
On a phone, hold your finger on the message you want to forward, select ‘forward’ from the menu, click the arrow in the bottom left of the screen, select the group or person you want to forward to, then click ‘forward’.
On a laptop/desktop, click on the small arrow top right of the message, select ‘forward’ from the menu, click the arrow bottom right of the screen, select the group or person you want to forward to, then click ‘forward’.
Note that the name of the person who posted the message you are forwarding doesn’t get forwarded, just their message. So you need to add another message saying “This is from Claire” to make it clear.
8. How do I reply to someone personally, rather than on the group?
On a phone, hold your finger on the message you want to reply to, click ‘more’ then click ‘reply privately’.
On a laptop/desktop, click the small arrow top right of the message and click ‘reply privately’.
