To the Netscape Community...

There are some upcoming changes to the Netscape.com site that we hope will improve your experience. We'll be providing two different news options for you based on what you've told us over the past few months.

Visitors to Netscape.com will see a more traditional news experience very soon. Don't worry, the social news site isn't going away! We will keep you updated on where you will be able to find the social news site as we get closer to making the switch.

Why is this happening?

Many of you may remember that Netscape.com used to be much different than it is today. In fact, it used to contain more mainstream news before we shifted to the social news site you see now.

We received some feedback that people really do associate the Netscape brand with providing mainstream news that is editorially controlled. In fact, we specifically heard that our users do have a desire for a social news experience, but simply didn't expect to find it on Netscape.com.

The decision to redirect the current Netscape.com site is based on that feedback and our desire to better serve our community.

Now where can you go?

You have the power to decide!

Have you visited the new Netscape portal experience yet? It's already up and running. If you bookmarked the current Netscape.com site, this is where you'll land once we make the transition. We just launched it recently, so we'll be busy making improvements along the way.

From checking your mail to local weather updates to the latest news headlines to celebrity gossip, you'll find it here.

If the social news experience is more your style, rest assured that we'll be rolling out a site for you in the very near future. You may have read a bit about our plans for the social news site in the press already. We will be sure to communicate specific dates and additional information on the new social news destination in this blog, so stay tuned.

What does this mean for the Netscape browser?

Absolutely nothing will change. The only area that will be affected is Netscape.com. Anything else associated with the Netscape brand will remain the same.

How can you stay in the know about the upcoming social news site?

We want to keep you as up to date as possible as we work to provide the best news experience for you. Please be sure to check back on the Netscape blog frequently, as we'll be updating with new developments. Most importantly, we'll be providing you the new location for the social news site.

We, as a company, remain committed to delivering a compelling social news experience for our users. This move is an effort to make both the former portal experience and the social news experience accessible so that you can decide which you prefer--or, even better, that you want to participate in both.

We look forward to unveiling a new social news site as soon as possible. The ability to post, comment, rate and share the news that's most relevant to you is as important to us as it is to you. We will be maintaining an open dialogue with you, our users, so that you'll be the first to know as soon as we're ready to pull back the curtains.

As with any social democracy, anyone who wants to be an active member of the Netscape community must be willing to play nice with others. Here's a guide to a few small things you can do to make the getting-along process easier for everyone:

• If you see a post that clearly doesn't belong on Netscape -- because it's an advertisement or press release; because it's abusive or inflammatory; or because a duplicate of another Netscape story -- please report the story using the red "Report!" button on the post, right under the picture.
• Make sure you report stories for the right reasons. The Anchors get a lot of reports that don't seem to correctly correspond with the post in question, and weeding through these false or mislabeled reports takes up valuable time that we could be spending responding to real reports. When you click the "Report!" button, you should get a pull down menu with a number of options. If you can't access the story linked to by the post, select "Broken Link"; if the post represents the same story as another Netscape post you've seen, select "Duplicate" and, in the box to the right please paste a link to the original story. If the post links to an advertisement, a website that appears to be stealing content, a site with more ads than content, or a site whose main function is to sell products, select "SPAM". These are the three most common kinds of reports; the other three types of reports are a little but trickier, so we'll move on to tip #3...
• Try to leave your personal feelings aside when reporting stories as "Inaccurate". This type of report is designed for stories that are blatantly false or misleading; however, we receive many "Inaccurate" reports, especially regarding stories about politics, from Netscape users who simply do not like or agree with the content. If a post seems to you to be generally offensive, you can report it as "Inflammatory"; and the Netscape team will decide if the content violates our Terms of Use. If the post is not factually inaccurate nor blatantly offensive, but still contradicts your personal beliefs, you can report it as "Lame" -- or, better yet, you can submit your own story showing a different side of the issue.
• You can also report inappropriate comments. If a user is leaving insulting or abusive comments, or is using the comments to post links to a commercial site or to promote a news story or website not relevant to the topic of the post, you can send a report by clicking the "Report!" button on the bottom right side of the comment. Please don't engage in arguments/attacks concerning other commenters within comment threads; those threads exist so we can talk about the stories, and fighting bad behavior with bad behavior makes it impossible for other members of the Netscape community to use the threads as intended.
• Netscape is a social news community, and as such, it's perfectly normal and allowed for one user to message another user about a story they find interesting. However, that doesn't mean that anyone needs to put up with harassment. If you feel like someone who you have accepted as a mutual friend is bombarding your message box with links to their stories, politely ask them to stop. If you have been sending messages to another Netscape user about your stories and they ask you to stop, please honor that request. If you ask a user to refrain from messaging you and they continue to do so, please send a message to an anchor.

For more on basic social bookmarking etiquette, check out this blog post by our Navigator, Neophile. Is there any aspect that you think we've missed? Let us know in the comments.