I decided to join this community on my own volition, with a focus on the browser space, to:
learn from users in the privacy community about issues they face
(and to a lesser extent) share knowledge & clarify misunderstandings
I occasionally do the same on other platforms, but it’s hard to gauge whether the time spent is worth it (especially for the second point). For some companies, I would imagine having someone speak individually is probably more of a liability than anything else.
At times, I’ve received private messages, but I don’t monitor my account here in a consistent manner. And I’d rather answer in public, in order to share with the community.
I think it would be best for PG to accept companies contributions in the form they are willing to: the more friction, the less participation you will get. And if needed put up guidelines for any issues (regarding promotion or whatever else).
I tend to think this is a better route to go and you could still use Wikipedia as a starting point as the below blurb could easily be co-opted into a workable policy.
A user who both adopts a promotional username and who engages in inappropriate advertising or promotional edits or behaviors – especially when made to their own user space or to articles about the company, group, or product – can be blocked
When I first read the post, I thought it was brilliant to be honest. But I do agree with most of the sentiment here. This seems like a proactive proposal to solve a problem that isn’t there yet.
I think that this is the right idea but the wrong approach. If this kind of problems were to occur (and they probably will as the forum grows), then I’d just add policies specific to brands to restrict behaviors which are undesirable.
An example would be companies posting ads in form of a video or picture to promote stuff. I’m pretty sure that would be undesirable content and could be restricted on a case by case basis.
In this specific case, being reactive might be better.
I’ll give my two cents for whatever they’re worth.
I’ve been a long time lurker on the forum. And I always considered brand account posts to be at least a semi official word on the matter or topic of discussion with any comments they make.
What you’re proposing I think will fragment the understanding of what and why and how a brand account comments mean as they would be by individuals which is not what I want.
The individuals/employees of these companies can of course make their own personal accounts and participate here but I don’t want them associated with their company because one would naturally always think and feel that their comments also reflect that of their company/employer and will skew the opinion from a readers POV about the discussion with whatever comment they make. Employees can be wrong about things at times but a brand can appoint one or a select few to operate their account here in an official or a semi official capacity for better exposition and clarity on the topic at hand.
Also, one always naturally considers the brand name and label with their comment to be the authority on the product and any clarifications or questions they answer to the final word because well.. they are the company and the product.
So I really don’t see why this change needs to be made. I hope my points above are clear as they are made from a readers’ POV because those who end up coming here for answers and advice will naturally think of this as I’ve described above.