Monday, January 3, 2011

How to report abuse in Pico



Written by Catero

Dear Pico Perfect Readers,

Have you ever been bullied while playing Pico?

I want to share an important message with you for the New Year. It's about being safe and protecting yourself.

Did you know that you have rights while you are playing Pico? You definitely do! And with rights come responsibilities. When you create your account for Ameba Pico you agree to rules that you must live by to use the game. These rules are called Terms of Service.

If someone is bullying you, harassing you or saying mean things to you - this can be through chat, whispers, letters or posts to your room - you can report their bad behavior.

Reporting someone can be a little tricky. Not everyone knows how to do it. To keep you safe, Pico Perfect would like to show you what you should report someone for and how to report someone.

What can I report someone for?
The are a few important things you should know about how everyone is expected to behave in Pico. To get the full details, read the Terms of Service: Section #5 Online Conduct. If it's difficult for you to understand, ask a parent or someone you trust to read and explain it to you.

Let's highlight some of the important parts that talk about how you act when you are in Pico.

Picos must not:
  • Bully others.
    This means anything that a person does that is meant to harass, threaten, abuse, or anything else that is meant to lower someone's dignity or self-esteem. Spreading harmful gossip and saying mean words - swearing, vulgar, sexually graphic, racially or ethnically offensive language - are considered to be bullying.
  • Give out someone else's personal and private information without their permission.
    This means telling other people someone's full name, email address, street address, Pico login, etc. knowing that the person would not want you to.
  • Spam or flood chat rooms with vulgar or abusive language or other unwanted information meant to disturb other Picos.
    This means posting the same text over and over again so that the screen goes by too fast to read. This includes typing in ALL CAPS/CAPS LOCK.
  • Make a false complaint to Pico about someone else.
    This means contacting the Pico moderators to report something that is untrue/never happened.

How do I report someone?
There are two ways to report someone's bad behavior. Both ways will take you to the same contact form.

1. If you are a Facebook user, scroll to the bottom of the page you are playing Pico on and click on the link that says 'Report Abuse', just like in the image below (click image to enlarge).


2. If you are not a Facebook user ...

You can use this form to report someone using the Inquiry Category of Abuse/Behaviour. Make sure you fill in all the details of the situation - including the person's Pico ID (name), what they have said (copy and paste the things the person has said) or anything else that would be useful.

Bookmarking the Contact page is a good way to help you pull it up quickly when you need it.



If you didn't know how to report someone before reading this, hopefully you do now and this was easy-to understand.

No one has the right to be abusive to you when you are simply trying to enjoy your time in Pico. If you are being bullied, don't hesitate to make use of the Contact page. While you are waiting for Pico moderators to read and respond to your message, you can also mute the bully's chat and block them from your room if they are in there making trouble.

Have a safe Pico Life!

14 comments:

  1. Thanks cat ! i can finally report someone!

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  2. Ericaxx, I'm glad you know how to now. :-)

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  3. oh, so u r the famous catero eh? nice to meet you!

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  4. There is no famous Catero other than Catero Colbert. ;-)

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  5. someone just tell me he'll report me cuz the food party thingy. Luckily i changed my look and nick. Will that help? cuz i dont mean to cheat, i just want to invite 9 people to my house.. :L

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  6. Thnx 4 the info Cat! I feel safer know that I kno how to report someone!

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  7. Anonymous,
    If a pico threatens that they'll report you and you didn't do anything, you have nothing to worry about. If someone said they'd report you and you DID do something. Then you may have to worry. And most likely Changing your nickname and look won't do any good. I'd assume pico doesn't take things too searouisly (I could be wrong) But i would think you'd just get a letter from Chloe or an E-mail from a Pico Staff.

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  8. i cant report annyone i cant find t!

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  9. YES! FINALLY I CAN REPORT THAT GAY IN PICO!! -__-

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  10. Yes final i can start getting people to be nice to me no tmy fault my mum lets me have ameba gold LOL!

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  11. Dear cat
    HELP ME!(Oh don`t bother readign i guess none els would so why would you?)
    I have a problem luner knight is harrsing me and he has hacked pico he told em i was a low lifer and is being really mean i kicked him outmy room and havent let him in he stil gets in it`s worrying me i love pico but he is making me feel like the worst person in the world, вωαвуlillyяαωя she tells me to die and i don`t know why she wont tell me i asked her is it becoz i took her of my room message thing she said no, so what do i do? i Hate my life becoz of these to the stalk me telling me to die :( why me Regards scarlet i`m sorry if i took to much time from you! :LL

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  12. Thnx theirs this one guy tht is threatening to hack me so this is great info thnk u so much!

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  13. its not there anymore because pico has changed so ummm yeah.

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  14. Thanks, Catero. I can finally report some mean bullies.

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