My intention with this blog is to establish conversations with you, dear readers. In order to guarantee that the conversation will be held in a pleasant way, I ask that you keep the following guidelines in mind when submitting a comment:

  1. You may comment without registering. You can log-in via Disqus, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, OpenID — or not at all. It’s up to you.
  2. You may submit a comment as a guest. If you do this, please provide a name (it can be your real name, online persona, or brand name) and a working email address so I can contact you. I may change this rule if it is abused.
  3. I will protect your privacy and will not share your email address without your direct consent.
  4. You may post follow-up questions. If you have a question, chances are you are not alone. Others are likely thinking similarly. So I encourage you to submit your question by commenting on that specific post, so I others can join the conversation too.
  5. I cannot guarantee that I will respond to every comment. But I guarantee that I will do my best.
  6. You may disagree with me. I welcome debate. However, I ask that if you disagree with me — or anyone else, for that matter — do so in a way that is respectful. In my opinion, there is way too much shouting in the public square to tolerate it here.
  7. I reserve the right to moderate or delete your comments. This is my blog. I don’t have an obligation to publish your comments. The First Amendment gives you the right to express your opinions on your blog not mine. Specifically, I will moderate or delete your comments if you post something that is, in my sole opinion, (a) snarky; (b) off-topic; (c) libelous, defamatory, abusive, harassing, threatening, profane, pornographic, offensive, false, misleading, or which otherwise violates or encourages others to violate my sense of decorum and civility or any law, including intellectual property laws; or (d) “spam,” i.e., an attempt to advertise, solicit, or otherwise promote goods and services.
  8. You retain ownership of your comments. I do not own them and I expressly disclaim any and all liability that may result from them. By commenting on my site, you agree that you retain all ownership rights in what you post here and that you will relieve me from any and all liability that may result from those postings.
  9. You grant me a license to post your comments. This license is worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free. You grant me the right to store, use, transmit, display, publish, reproduce, and distribute your comments in any format, including but not limited to a blog, in a book, a video, or presentation.
  10. Pingbacks are considered comments and will be treated as such.

I encourage you to comment and participate in the conversation. And these guidelines will help every one of us enjoy it.

Credit: “Do you need a comments policy?” by Michael Hyatt.