GovernEye

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1. Overview

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the app. We follow a very different set of rules (and we're very strict about them) than most other social networking apps. So it's important that you read through this section and the Guidelines section before using GovernEye. We also suggest reading some of the posts and comments in the Public Discussions to see our guidelines in action.

Several users have told us that after reading through this section and the Guidelines and using the app for a few days, they still find it valuable to revisit this section because they can process the information better with more context about the app.

2. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the ideology of the app?
A: The app has no ideology. Users with left, right or centrist ideologies are welcome to share their views and ideas as long as they are not using foul language, making personal attacks, spreading fake news or instigating violence - essentially as long as they are following our guidelines.

Q: Why are users allowed to register with unacceptable usernames if you won't allow them to post with unacceptable usernames?
A: As a registered user, you are free to read through and react to posts and comments, give your feedback on National Pulse and join a protest march. If you wish to add content where your username will be visible, we require you to maintain our standards of civility.

Q: What happens if I forget my password and cannot access my account?
A: If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it using the security question. If you don't remember the answer to your security question, unfortunately you will need to register again with a new username. Since we do not collect any personally-identifiable information, there is no way for us to help you through an automated email or SMS. It is best to have a strong but easy-to-remember password and security question/answer combination. You can also opt in for two-step authentication to ensure more security.

Q: Why are users not allowed to edit their posts?
A: Politicians who go through our Public Discussions get a broad sense of the public's perception of issues by looking at the reactions and sentiments of the comments. Those reactions and comments will be meaningless if you can go back and change the nature of your post completely. To avoid that confusion, users are not allowed to edit their post. We encourage users to think through their posts before hitting the tick-mark button. While most social networking apps ask your post to answer the question 'What is happening right now?', our app asks your posts to answer the question 'What have you thought about comprehensively?' - that change in temperament is similar to the move from a T20 mindset to Test Cricket mindset.

Q: Why are elected officials allowed to violate some of the guidelines but regular users are not allowed to?
A: We strongly believe it's very important for voters to know the true nature of the politicians they are electing. If the true nature of those politicians is to make personal attacks, use foul language or bully their opponents - the voters should get a clear view of that.

Q: Who all can get verified accounts?
A: In a democracy, we are all stakeholders in the success of governance. But some stakeholders play a more critical role by either being politicians or journalists or experts on related subject matter. To know for sure that the opinions and expertise being shared by them is authentic, we verify their accounts. For more details, please visit the Verified Users section from the Main Menu.

Q: Is it possible to change my username at a later time if I wish to?
A: No, we do not allow that. You will need to register again with an available username of your choice.

3. Icons

	Public Discussions tab - Here you will find posts in your selected languages that have been posted to states/UTs that you have subscribed to in your newsfeed preferences. On a user's profile page, this tab shows you the posts made by that user in the past.
	Showcase tab - Here you will find posts by politicians and journalists (registered on our app). Posts from all languages show up on this tab.
	Fake News Alerts tab - Here you will find posts by fact-checkers that have been posted to states/UTs that you have subscribed to in your newsfeed preferences. These posts are meant to bust fake news soon after they begin to go viral. Posts from all languages show up on this tab.
	Like/Agree icon - Tap this icon to like a post or agree with the author, as the case may be. Please remember this reaction is for the post/author. Sometimes the author might attach a link or audio/video recording from other sources that she or he disagrees with. Your reaction must not be for the attachment. It will get counted towards the opinion of the post/author only.
	Dislike/Disagree icon - Tap this icon to dislike a post or disagree with an author, as the case may be. Please remember this reaction is for the post/author. Sometimes the author might attach a link or audio/video recording from other sources that she or he disagrees with. Your reaction must not be for the attachment. It will get counted towards the opinion of the post/author only.
	Confused/Didn't understand icon - Tap this icon to show you are confused about the post or didn't understand the author, as the case may be. Please remember this reaction is for the post/author. Sometimes the author might attach a link or audio/video recording from other sources that she or he disagrees with. Your reaction must not be for the attachment. It will get counted towards the opinion of the post/author only.
	Comments icon - Tap on this link to view the comments on a post. This is also where you can add a comment to the post.
	This icon indicates that a Lawmaker has responded to this post. Tap on this link to view the comments on a post. This is also where you can add a comment to the post.
	This icon indicates that a Fact Checker has responded to this post, most probably to inform you that the post contains fake news. Tap on this link to view the comments on a post. This is also where you can add a comment to the post.
	This icon indicates that a Lawmaker AND a Fact Checker has responded to this post. Tap on this link to view the comments on a post. This is also where you can add a comment to the post.
	Bookmarks tab - This is where you can view posts that you have bookmarked. You would typically bookmark interesting posts from other users that you would like to view again later. It could be because you have commented on it, or simply because you want to see what more has been commented on it by other users. We do not send you annoying notifications about any new activity on your posts or on posts that you have commented on. So bookmarking a post for later is a good practice.
	National Pulse tab - When you first visit this tab, you will see a set of survey questions that require your opinion. Responding to them shows you a breakup of the collective opinion of GovernEye users as a bar graph. It's a good practice to visit this tab periodically to view how the bar graphs have changed because of new users and because existing users have changed their opinions. Proactive citizens would use this to ask themselves what do other citizens know or not know that causes their opinions to be different. Perhaps that would cause empathy or even initiate some research. Opinions have a tendency to change due to exposure to different points of views and open discussions, so it's also a good practice to update your opinions on this tab everytime they change. On a user's profile page, this tab shows you the opinions of that user.
	Reaction Analysis icon - GovernEye periodically analyses the reactions on your posts and gives you a pie-chart of each reaction against demography parameters or National Pulse parameters. This helps you understand what different kinds of citizens feel about your posts. To view the Reaction Analysis pie-chart, just select the Reaction-type and the Criteria from the drop-down menus and click on the tick-mark on the top-right.
	Notifications tab - GovernEye creates very few notifications but when it does, this is the tab you will find them in. Fortunately, you won't have to constantly visit this tab to check if you have any notifications. It will turn red and display the number of notifications you have, if there are any.
	Three-bar icon - Also called the Hamburger icon. This is where the app's menu options are placed. Go ahead and tap on it - see what else is there to do on GovernEye.
	Extended Menu icon - Tap on this icon to see what actions you can perform on a post. The options will be different if it's your post.
	Share icon - Tap on this if you want to share a post.
	Embed Post icon - This icon allows you to embed a post on a third-party website. This would required some understanding of programming in HTML.
	Delete icon - Tap on this icon if you want to delete your post. The post will be lost permanently if you delete it. All comments and reactions will also be lost.
	Report Abuse icon - If you believe a post does not meet GovernEye's content guidelines and should have been rejected, please tap this icon to report it to us. We will look at it right away.

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