Terms and Conditions for Feud for Thought

Welcome to Feud for Thought! By accessing or using our app, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions. Please read them carefully.

By creating an account and using Feud for Thought, you accept and agree to these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our app.

Feud for Thought is only available to users aged 17 and older. By using the app, you confirm that you meet this age requirement.

To access the features of Feud for Thought, you must create an account. You agree to provide accurate and complete information during the registration process and to keep your account information up to date.

By using Feud for Thought, you agree to adhere to the following rules and guidelines to ensure a positive and respectful environment for all users:

Prohibited Conduct:

• Personal Attacks: Users must not engage in personal attacks or abusive behavior towards other users. This includes any form of harassment, bullying, or threats.

• Doxing: Sharing or exposing another user's personal information (such as home address, phone number, or other identifying details) without their consent is strictly prohibited.

• Illegal Content: Users are not allowed to post any content that is illegal or promotes illegal activities. This includes, but is not limited to, content related to illegal drugs, human trafficking, and other unlawful activities.

• Spamming: Posting repetitive, irrelevant, or unwanted messages, advertisements, or other types of spam is prohibited. This includes mass messaging and the use of bots to generate content.

• Harassment: Any form of harassment, including sexual harassment, stalking, or discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other protected characteristics, is strictly forbidden.

• Self-Identifying Information: Users are encouraged not to share personal information that could lead to their identification outside the platform, such as home addresses, phone numbers, or other sensitive information.

Encouraged Conduct:

• Respectful Debates: Engage in debates respectfully and constructively, focusing on the topic at hand rather than attacking the person you are debating.

• Reporting Violations: If you encounter content or behavior that violates these terms, please use the reporting tools provided within the app to notify our support team.

 User Responsibilities:

• Account Confidentiality: You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account information.

• Unauthorized Use: You must immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your account.

• Account Activity: You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account.

Profile Requirements:

• Profile Photo: Should be sensible and appropriate.

• Username: Must be between four and sixteen characters long, containing only letters, numbers, and underscores.

• Musing, Location, etc.: Ensure that all profile elements are appropriate and do not contain sensitive information.

Feud for Thought is centered around the concept of feuds, which are structured debates between users. Here are the detailed guidelines on how feuds work and what they consist of:

Definition of a Feud:

• Feud: A debate around a claim between a proponent of that claim and an opponent, settled either by concession or by other users' votes.

Elements of a Feud:

• Name: This frames the general topic of discussion and is agreed upon by both the proponent and the opponent.

• Claim: The opinion statement made by the proponent from which the debate starts.

• Anonymity: The option to keep the usernames of the proponent and opponent visible or hidden from other users.

• End Date: The latest calendar date by which the feud must reach a resolution. If unresolved by this date, the app counts the votes and determines a winner. If the feud is still Pending at the expiration date, then the feud becomes Expired.

Types of Feuds:

• Default Feud: Directly challenge a friend if you have a difference of opinion on a specific matter.

• Open Feud: Not addressed to a specific opponent from the proponent’s friends, allowing anyone to choose to be the opponent from the "Get Feuds" section.

Starting a Feud:

• Compose Button: Initiate a feud from the "compose" button in the upper right corner of the "My Feed" section or from the "Tally" section of a friend's profile.

• Opponent Selection: Choose the opponent from your friends list or opt for an open feud.

Lifecycle of a Feud:

• Pending: The feud's format has not yet been agreed upon by both the proponent and the opponent. The feud can be accepted, modified, or rejected. If still Pending by the end date, it expires.

• Active: The four main elements of the feud have been established, allowing both sides to argue their points. The feud is accessible to other users for voting, liking, and sharing.

• Ended: The debate is over, and a winner is determined either by one side conceding before the end date or by tallying the votes at the end date. The feud can still be liked and shared after it ends. 

User Interaction:

• Voting: Other users can vote on whether they agree or disagree with the feud's claim. Voting is restricted to only Active feuds and users are encouraged to read the debate between the parties, available by tapping the “Events and Posts” button of the feud screen.

• Liking and Sharing: Users can like and share active and ended feuds, increasing their visibility within the community.

• Public Activity: Users’ public activities, such as the feuds they voted on, liked, or public feuds they participated in, are visible in the "My Feed" section. 

• Content Posting: Users can post images and links in feuds, either as participants in the claim and subsequent debate posts, or as voters in the voter comments section.

• Private Messaging: Users can have friend groups where they can send private messages, including photos and videos. These photos and videos are kept on our servers for no longer than three months. Private messages can also be grounds for reports if they violate our Terms of Service.

Vote Weight:

• Increase: Winning your own feuds and voting for the winning side increases your vote weight.

• Decrease: Losing your feuds and voting for the losing side decreases your vote weight.

• Public Feuds: Public feuds have a slightly higher impact on vote weight increases and slightly lower on decreases.

• Birthday Bonus: Every user receives a 10% bonus to their vote weight on their birthday.

Blocking Feuds and Users:

• Blocking Feuds: When a feud is blocked, it will no longer appear in any list viewed by the blocking user. The blocked feud will only be accessible from the Blocks button in the user's profile, in case they want to unblock it.

• Blocking Users: When a user is blocked, none of their content will be visible to the blocking user, including their profile screen. The blocked user's profile can only be accessed from the Blocks button in the blocking user's profile screen, in case they want to unblock it. 

User Content:

• Ownership: All content posted by users on Feud for Thought, including but not limited to text, images, and links, becomes the property of Feud for Thought. By posting content on the app, you grant Feud for Thought a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the content in connection with the service provided by the app and across different media.

• Responsibility: Users are responsible for the content they post and must ensure it does not violate any laws or these Terms of Service. Feud for Thought reserves the right to remove any content that violates these terms or is deemed inappropriate.

•  Personal Data: We collect your email address and birthdate to provide you with services, including a birthday bonus of 10% to your vote weight.

• Future Data Collection: In the future, we may collect location data to implement promoted feuds.

• Data Security: Your data is secured using cloud encryption, and authentication is managed through Google Firebase. We do not store passwords on our servers.

Feud for Thought integrates with third-party services, including:

• Google Cloud Backend: Utilized for our app’s infrastructure.

• Facebook, Twitter, and Google SDKs: Used for authentication purposes. If authenticated with Facebook, Feud for Thought will find your Facebook friends on our platform and automatically connect you.

• Apple Authentication: Using FaceID or TouchID, depending on your device.

Currently, Feud for Thought does not offer in-app purchases or subscriptions. We plan to add a paid feature for promoting feuds in the future, and details will be provided once available.

• Reporting: If you encounter bothersome content or users, in addition to the blocking described above, you can report them using the provided tools in the app. Reports should be as accurate as possible to help our reviewers correctly identify issues and provide timely and correct resolutions.

• Support: Our team reviews all reports and takes appropriate actions within 24 hours. You can contact support at support@feudforthought.com for any assistance.

• Possible Report Outcomes:

  • For a Feud: If a feud is found to be in violation of these Terms of Service, it may be restricted. A restricted feud cannot be modified further or viewed by any user except the two participants and the reporting user. If a feud is found not to be in violation, no action is taken, and the report receives a "not a violation" resolution.

  • For a User: Depending on the severity of the violation, a user's account may be restricted. Restrictions can prevent the user from creating any content within Feud for Thought, including feud likes, private messages, shares, and profile modifications. The duration of restrictions can be one day, three days, one week, two weeks, thirty days, or indefinitely. If the user is found not to be in violation, no action is taken, and the report receives a "not a violation" resolution.

• My Feed: This section displays the public activity of users you are following in chronological order. Public activity includes the feuds they voted on (but not how they voted), the feuds they liked, and activity on their own public feuds.

• Get Feuds: This section shows all available Open feuds (Pending feuds without a preset opponent) and random Active and Ended feuds by other users. Users can filter this list by status and anonymity, and search for specific feuds. When searching for feuds with specific words or expressions, only Open and Ended feuds will be displayed - this is done in order to ensure fair voting for Active feuds.

• My Feuds: This section displays your feuds, categorized as Pending, Active, or Ended. It features similar filtering and search functionalities as Get Feuds.

• Contacts: This section displays your acquaintances, categorized as Pending (awaiting your response), Friends (users with whom you can feud, share feuds, or have private messages), and Blocked (users with restricted interactions). It also includes filtering and search functionalities.

We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Terms and Conditions on this page. Your continued use of the app after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms and Conditions.

We reserve the right to terminate or suspend your account if you violate these Terms and Conditions or engage in any conduct that we deem inappropriate or harmful.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which Feud for Thought operates.

If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us at support@feudforthought.com.