Terms Governing Vaccine Slot Group
A mutual aid text thread formed to share appointment availability has generated its own governance structure within seventy-two hours of its creation.
Terms Governing Vaccine Slot Group Effective Upon First Message. No Acknowledgment Required.
Section 1: Formation
A text thread was created for the purpose of sharing available vaccine appointment slots among known parties. Membership was extended informally. There was no application.
The thread has twenty-three members. Seven of them are not sure who added them.
Section 2: Definitions
Slot shall mean an available appointment time that was available at the moment of posting and may or may not remain available by the time the message is read.
Hot slot shall mean a slot at a location considered preferable. Preference criteria vary by member and have not been harmonized.
Ghost slot shall mean a slot posted in good faith that resolves to an error screen upon clicking.
Section 3: Posting Requirements
3.1 Members are encouraged to post slots immediately upon discovery. Delay renders the slot useless.
3.2 Members are also encouraged to verify slots before posting. Verification takes time. See Section 3.1.
3.3 A slot posted before verification is a burden. A slot posted after verification is too late. These requirements exist in permanent tension and have not been resolved.
Section 4: Notification Obligations
4.1 Upon successfully booking a slot, members are expected to notify the group. Failure to notify results in continued search behavior among members who do not yet know the search is over.
4.2 Upon failing to book a slot, members are encouraged not to report this, as negative updates reduce group morale without advancing any appointment.
4.3 Morale is not a tracked metric.
Section 5: Prohibited Conduct
5.1 Forwarding of slots to non-members is prohibited in principle. Principle has not been enforced.
5.2 Discussing the thread's governance within the thread is discouraged. This document is not being circulated via the thread.
Section 6: Contradiction
The thread was created to share information. It now requires information in order to be understood. A new member cannot participate effectively without knowing the terminology, the geographic scope, the verification norms, and the unwritten rule about not asking whether anyone is still looking after three weeks of silence.
No onboarding has been provided. There is no plan to provide any.
Section 7: Termination
The thread will remain active until all members have been vaccinated or have stopped checking it, whichever comes first. The distinction between these two outcomes is narrowing.
These terms are subject to change. No change notification will be issued.