Community rules

Write the kind of note you'd love to find

• Encouragement, hope, a small joy, something that made you smile: all welcome.
• Write for anyone. You don't know who will catch your lantern, so keep it gentle and open-hearted.
• Only send a lantern when you're feeling kind. Anonymous lanterns are for shy kindness, not for hiding unkind words.

Not allowed on Driftlight

• Contact details: no phone numbers, emails, links, social media handles or “DM me”. Lanterns to strangers stay anonymous both ways.
• Flirting or romance with strangers, and any sexual content.
• Insults, bullying or harassment, including mocking someone's looks, beliefs or background.
• Hate against anyone because of who they are: their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability or nationality.
• Threats or violence, of any kind.
• Adverts, selling, spam or chain messages, including asking for money.
• Other people's private information, or pretending to be someone you're not.
• Content about self-harm or suicide. If you're struggling, please don't carry it alone: find someone to talk to.
• Anything illegal.

Personal lanterns to people you know

• Only send them to people who would welcome them.
• Warm and affectionate is lovely; anything they wouldn't want to receive is not.
• If someone stops receiving your lanterns or blocks you, that's their choice. Please don't try to reach them another way through Driftlight.
• Photos follow the same rules as words: only photos you have the right to share, that the people in them would be happy to share, with no nudity, violence or private details like ID cards, bank cards or phone numbers.
• Group letters: everyone who signs is responsible for their own line, and every line is checked like any note.

How we keep it kind

• Every note is checked before it travels. If a note doesn't fit these rules, we'll gently let you know so you can change it.
• Some notes wait for a person on our team to read them first.
• Every lantern has a Report button. A reported lantern stops travelling straight away while we look at it.
• You can block a writer, and their lanterns will never reach you again.

If rules are broken

We remove lanterns that break these rules. If it keeps happening, or if something is serious, we may pause or close the account. If you think we got something wrong, tell us and we'll take another look.

Driftlight is for adults

You need to be 18 or over to join.