GLOBAL – We feel incredibly lucky on Conversations to have such an active and engaged community. You’re not shy when it comes to telling us what you think, which is one of the main reasons Conversations was created in the first place. As the site has grown though, the number and variety of comments has grown with it. We don’t like to moderate comments, and as regular readers will be aware, we have no issue with publishing pretty much anything you submit (positive or negative). However we’ve decided we need to document more clearly our comment policy. And, in the true spirit of the site (as the name suggests, it’s a dialogue, not a monologue) we want your input on what that policy should be. Read on for more….We’ve come up with some core points we need to cover off. These are based on the comments we’ve had in the past and form a plan for good housekeeping rather than an attempt to stifle your opinions.
Comments not related to the post – we don’t see the point in allowing comments which have no relevance to the post, are completely un-related and as such, add nothing to the conversation.
Support and Care questions – There’s already an extensive set up in place to handle support and care issues and questions. If you want to get community feedback on something, then the Microsoft Mobile Devices community forums is the place to go. If you need direct help with a problem, then you need to contact your local care center.
Offensive behaviour – Pretty straightforward really, Conversations isn’t a place for offensive behaviour of any kind. Fundamentally that applies to swearing and or abusing other commenters in any way.
Personal details – We don’t recommend leaving phone numbers or email addresses in the Conversations comments section. Feel free to add a link when you submit your post and other users will be able to get hold of you that way.
Foreign languages – Conversations is (for now) an English language site. Whilst we consider ourselves a moderately talented bunch, our grasp of foreign language is limited to English, Finnish, Portuguese, a bit of Swedish, holiday French, basic German and some words from Italian and Spanish. As such, if you write a comment in a language we don’t understand, it won’t get posted.
These are the key things we believe we need to cover off. But what’s missing? Is the above too much? You tell us and we’ll use it to create a comment policy that won’t stifle what you have to say, and ensure Conversations remains just about that.