The Skype blogs have always been a place for lively and productive discussion, but as the volume of comments is pretty high, we’re introducing some guidelines to help everyone stay on track.

What sort of comments are we looking for, then? Comments which make a substantive point with a minimum of fuss – the same sort of standards we try to adhere to when we’re writing these blogs, in fact. We don’t edit comments, so make sure yours fits the guidelines below before you post it.

We’re trying out this policy on the international and UK blogs to start with. If it works, we’ll roll it out to all of our blogs over the next couple of months. If you have any questions or comments about the policy, either leave a comment below (Update: now closed), or chat with me on Skype.

Be clear and on topic

• Use language and grammar which is easy to understand – don’t forget that readers may not be native speakers of the language you’re writing in. Don’t write your whole comment in capital letters, either, as that makes it difficult to read.
• Your comment should be related to the topic of the original blog post. If it isn’t, we’ll zap it with the Skype ray gun.
• If you want to start a discussion about a new topic, write something on your own blog and send us a link, or visit the Skype Community and start a discussion there.
• If you can, link to other blogs or websites to illustrate your point. There’s a fine line between useful links and advertising, however, so if your comment is about another product, website, or service, make sure it’s relevant to the original post.
• Finally, your comment should be written in the language of the original blog post. This helps us make sure that comments are in line with this policy.

Comments are a conversation

• Please take some time to read what other commenters have said before posting yours.
• If there’s something you’d like to say to the author in private, send them a message by clicking the Skype icon next to their name at the top of the post, and then clicking Chat.

No nonsense, flaming or hate

• If your comment is nonsense, like ‘LOL!*&^*&@^’, we’ll delete it. Pretty simple, really.
• Please don’t get involved in flaming arguments with other commenters. Disagreement is healthy, but ‘YOU SUCK’ is not. Comments with personal attacks aren’t acceptable.
• If your comment makes racist, sexist, homophobic or similar judgements, we’ll delete it right away.