Community Netiquette

The IBM TechXchange Community is composed of executives and experts. It is a group that comes together to explore key issues, exchange ideas and to collaborate to develop and share content, information and best practices for the benefit of all community members. The community is run by the members for the members and addresses issues highlighted by members.

Failure to obey will result in removal of the member’s account and/or associated content.

IBM TechXchange Community reserves the right to change these moderation policies at any time, without prior notice.

Guidelines

  • Be accepting, constructive and respectful of the opinions expressed by others; constructive disagreement is not only permitted but encouraged when done in a professional manner.
  • Do not make personal attacks on other community members, including arguments, bullying, prejudiced remarks and defamatory or false comments.
  • If you have a complaint about another community member, address the matter in a private and civil way; if this doesn't work, please contact a member of the support team at support@communitysite.ibm.com.
  • Stay on topic – Keep content relevant to the shared interests and values of the community and IBM.
  • Post content in the correct forum, blog or file library- in order to maintain ease of use, ensure content is posted to the most topically relevant area of the online community. If you are unsure where to post an item, contact a member of the IBM team.
  • Cross-Posting is not permitted. You should pick the single most appropriate group for your message. Duplicate posts will be deleted.
  • Do not plagiarize – If you are sharing content that is not original to you, provide an attribute to the source. Links, quotes and references are acceptable – copying and pasting entire articles or stories is not.
  • Do not use the online community for self-promotion or commercial advertising, such the promotion of goods and services. You will gain more positive attention by showcasing your expertise in a genuine way. Members are invited (even encouraged) to post information about products on the site provided it is factual, is generally for the benefit of forum members and doesn't break this rule.
  • Do not post any materials deemed to be obscene or pornographic, such as links to external sites, images, graphics or additional content of this nature.
  • Contribute content in English – this is the primary written and spoken language of your fellow community members.
  • Do not hijack threads – In forum spaces, if you have a new topic of discussion, share it with the community by starting a new thread. Adding varied topics to the end of pre-existing threads takes answers away from other members.
  • Register only once. Registering more than once will get one or both registrations and all the posts deleted.

Community administrators will handle policy violations on a case-by-case basis to ensure the community is maintained as a valuable destination for all members. Final decisions made by community administrators are at their discretion; an explanation may not be disclosed.