Principles for ITAA chat groups – Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous

As internet addicts, we need take special care how we use technology to support our recoveries and our meetings. For example, Zoom and our website have been essential tools to help our fellowship reach addicts who don’t have access to in-person meetings. Meanwhile, other technologies—streaming platforms, social media feeds, dating apps, video games—clearly have no place in our fellowship. Chat groups can fall somewhere in between: they can be useful for staying coordinated outside of meetings, but they can also feed into unhealthy addictive tendencies. The purpose of this document is to suggest principles to help ITAA chat groups ensure that they are serving our primary purpose: to carry the message to the compulsive internet and technology user who still suffers.

In general, we recommend that ITAA chat groups practice the following principles:

Guided by the Twelve Traditions: Chat groups often function well when they are affiliated with an individual ITAA meeting that manages the chat for the benefit of its members and can discuss chat-group related topics at their group consciences. If our chat group is not affiliated with a specific ITAA meeting, we can hold regular group consciences (ideally over live discussion in-person or on Zoom), elect trusted servants, and practice the Twelve Traditions, just as any other meeting would. Otherwise, the chat group is encouraged to remain informal, which means that it does not use the ITAA name or logo, and members should not promote it to newcomers and other fellows in ITAA.
A clear purpose: ITAA chat groups can benefit from a clear purpose that is aligned with our fellowship’s primary purpose: to carry the message to the compulsive internet and technology user who is still suffering. Examples of purposes might include coordinating trusted servants for a meeting or making outreach calls. Official ITAA chat groups are less well-suited as forums for unstructured sharing, cross-talk, or informal discussion, which can become vehicles for compulsive posting, notification checking, parasocial connection, and interpersonal conflict. While each group is encouraged to determine for itself the specific purpose of its chat, as internet and technology addicts we do well to exercise caution when using a social media platform to carry the message to newcomers. We can keep in mind that addicts in Twelve Step recovery communities have been getting sober without chat groups for nearly 100 years. With a growing number of face-to-face meetings, hundreds of online meetings, and thousands of members available for outreach calls, there are many time-tested mediums besides chat for internet and technology addicts who are seeking a way to share.
Clearly defined boundaries and admin privileges: Our chat groups benefit from written boundaries about what the purpose of the group is and specific guidelines for posting, and we communicate these guidelines to newcomers. An example of such boundaries can be found at the bottom of this page. We elect trusted servants with term limits who practice rotation of service and who can take action to uphold boundaries. We may find it beneficial to adopt a 3-strike policy for regular transgressions (posting outside of the boundaries of the group, reports of unwanted flirtation, etc.), following which the member can be removed for a period of 3-6 months before being invited to rejoin if they are willing to honor the group’s boundaries. For major transgressions (violent insults, sexual messages or images, etc.), the member can be immediately removed on a temporary basis until a group conscience discusses how long the removal should last, typically between 6 months and indefinitely. The decision to remove a member from a group, even for a limited period of time, should be taken very seriously, and any removal should always be discussed in a group conscience (ideally beforehand). Further suggestions on how to handle challenging behavior can be found in our Guide to Safety in ITAA.
Chat groups should not be the first point of contact: Some meetings have tried publishing a link to their chat group online to make it easier for newcomers to ask questions about the meeting. We have often found that newcomers who have never been to a meeting or spoken to another member may not have the awareness or the sobriety to maintain safe boundaries in the group or towards other members. Additionally, posting the link to our chat group publicly makes us vulnerable to spammers and trolls. Meetings are encouraged to provide contact emails and phone numbers for newcomers who are interested in attending, not chat group links. If an unknown member is requesting to join a chat group, it is appropriate to first ask a few questions about how they heard about the chat group in order to filter out bad actors.

In essence, these principles recommend that chat groups be well-structured, limited in scope, and guided by our Twelve Traditions. These are recommendations only, and we trust members and groups to discover their own path forward through the group conscience process. We hope that as a fellowship these principles can guide us towards a relationship with chat groups that will help more addicts around the world find a stable, secure, and safe community to recover in.

Example chat group description and boundaries:

The purpose of this chat is to facilitate outreach calls between members of the {Meeting name} ITAA group. You may post in the chat if you need an outreach call, and another member will respond to your message if they’re available and then give you a call. Please keep in mind the following boundaries:

Only share this group with other members of ITAA.
The purpose of this group is solely to request outreach calls from other members. Stay on topic and avoid sharing irrelevant messages. If you need to share, call a member or attend a meeting.
Uphold other members’ anonymity. Never share the name, phone number, or identity of another member without their permission.
Refrain from posting links, videos, memes, gifs, or any other outside content.
Avoid promotion of any professional services you or others offer.
Avoid spamming, dumping, or ranting. Think before you post, and avoid responding hastily. Remember that we are internet addicts in recovery and that your messages impact the mental health of every other participant.
Never use the group to berate someone or air grievances. Address the relevant person privately in a respectful manner, ideally after first writing an inventory and discussing with your sponsor.
This is not a place to meet dating partners. Avoid flirtation of any kind, including unasked for compliments, edgy jokes, or trying to engage with a member who has expressed that they are unavailable.

We practice a 3-strike policy, meaning that if you break these boundaries 3 times, an admin may remove you for a period of 3-6 months. On the other hand, the following behaviors are grounds for immediate and potentially permanent removal:

Violent or aggressive behavior, including name-calling, insults, humiliation, mocking, or threats.
Sexual behavior, including making sexual comments or requests towards other members or sending sexual content.
Discrimination of any kind, including towards race, sex, gender identity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, body composition, disability, or neurodiversity.
Harassment, stalking, or any other criminal behavior.

This chat follows the Twelve Traditions and is subject to the group conscience of our meeting, which takes place on the first meeting of every month at 1pm local time.

Page last updated on July 28, 2024