I started the Gates Notes for two reasons. First, because I like sharing the things I learn in my work. And second, because I’m curious to hear what other people are thinking about—which is why, like a lot of blogs, there is a comments section below every post on the site.

Some posts receive only a few comments, while others get hundreds. Either way, I’m grateful whenever someone takes the time to share thoughtful feedback on something I’ve written, whether their reaction is positive or negative. I enjoy the open dialogue and am open to constructive criticism.

Because we want the discussion to be as focused and constructive as possible, my team moderates the comments section. If you are new to the conversation on Gates Notes, your first post will be pre-screened by our comment moderator to ensure it does not violate any rules of the community. This could take up to 24 hours. Once approved, it will become visible to the rest of users and any comment you make thereafter will be visible immediately.

We remove users' comments under certain circumstances.

• Would be offensive to most visitors, including comments that are abusive, use profanity, or say things that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or hateful in some other way.
• Make personal attacks against other commentors. Debate and disagreement are welcome; attacks are not. We tolerate more criticism of me than of others.
• Are spam, including comments that are posted more than once, promotion of sites that aren’t relevant to the discussion, and attempts to sell products.
• Solicit funding from me or others.
• Are way off-topic. The comments section is for discussing the posts the Gates Notes. If you share something that isn’t related, we may take it down so that other users can focus on the topic at hand.
  In addition, each comment has a “flag as not constructive” button. When a comment is flagged multiple times, we investigate and may take it down.

In short—keep it clean, civil, and relevant, and your comments will be welcome. Our goal is to promote safe, productive conversations on the subjects I’m posting about.

Thanks for your interest in this blog and in joining the conversation.