Communications/Social Media

	Mozilla
	Owner: Erica Sackin, Communications Director, Rebeccah Mullen, Social Media Manager	Updated: 2013-12-13
	An Overview of Voice and Content Types for Mozilla & Webmaker Social Media Channels

Mozillian Voice

Mozillians live all over the world. We have different roles. We do different jobs (often several at once). But one thing we have in common is that we're a group of human beings building products and technologies for other human beings.

Whenever a user — or anyone else, for that matter — reads a piece of Mozilla communication, they should feel like there's a person on the other end who recognizes that they are the same. They should feel like we care about them and how they spend their time online. That's not a gimmick or a piece of marketing, either. It's one of the principles Mozilla was founded on.

So what does that mean, practically speaking? It means that, yes, sometimes we'll use colloquial or conversational language. We'll use contractions and speak to people in a familiar way (sorry, couldn't think of another word that started with a C). We'll use humor to make people feel good. Or be serious when the situation warrants.

We should not, however, talk down to people or use overly technical language. It's OK to be clever, but not just for its own sake (or because we're too in love with our own words). We should avoid snark and cynicism. And we should never make people feel like we're smarter or better than they are. We should speak on their level, while being friendly and inclusive.

The point is, we never want our users to forget that there are real live people behind our products and our words. And when writing, we can't forget that, either. As our Brand Platform states, we should be unconventional, engaging, honest, smart and confident. If you remember that, you should be in good shape.

If you're a real stickler for detail, read all about our copy rules. Or find out how this affects translated copy in our localization section.

• source: Copy Tone for Mozilla

Target Audience

Primary Audience: Supporters of the Mozilla Mission, and to a great degree, people invested in Open Source, Open Web and issues concerning privacy, transparency and equal rights for web users on a global scale.

Secondary Audience: Users of our products, technologists, developers, teachers and students of digital literacy, and web enthusiasts of all kinds.

Channel Types

@Mozilla

Mozilla Facebook

Webmaker Voice

The words we use should express that there are — and always will be — very nice human beings behind Webmaker.

The people that choose to spend their time online using Webmaker technologies need to be respected. This means never using language to make people feel like we’re smarter than they are, even if they are brand-new to webmaking. Avoid using complicated words or abbreviations that people might not understand. When in doubt, use simple language and spell things out. Remember that many Webmaker users speak English as a second language.

The people who build Webmaker products sometimes get lost behind fancy names like coder, developer, designer or marketer. This strips the soul from what we create! Please refer to actual people or teams when talking about Webmaker. This helps people to feel comfortable approaching us.

• source: Webmaker Style Guide

Target Audiences

Primary audience: Mentors Makers seeking to help others express themselves using the web.

Secondary audience: Makers seeking inspiration, tools, community and mentorship in order to express themselves online.

@Webmaker

Mozilla Webmaker Tumblr

Other Channels

Mozilla Webmakers YouTube

• Currently not in use, excepting occasional support projects for Ignite, Webmaker Promo, Hangout Recordings
• Formerly updated weekly with Webmaker Community Call

Mozilla Drumbeat Flickr

• Currently not regularly updated, used for MozFest Gallery & Favorites aggregation

Resources

• Social Media Graphics Assets

Contribute

• tbd Sydney

Calendar

• tbd Erica