#1. Moderator use . . . or not.

I would rather not see moderators use the tag on questions they ask - and I say this as a mod on three sites. I see enough cases of people screaming "mod abuse!", and having a mod prevent a question they ask from being closed or deleted (as a side effect of an announcement) is just an invitation for more of those flame wars. Yeah, I trust my fellow mods to not abuse the tag - and, actually, I get the feeling that many will abstain from using it altogether, even if they should - but I think a lot of users do not have that same trust.

#2. Emphasis on feedback.

There have been some really nasty cases where users felt that the company didn't want or care about what they had to say. Whether those feelings were justified or not is immaterial for this point; it just matters that people felt that way. There's a risk that announcements are going to come off as someone talking at people from on high, rather than talking with people on meta. That's a world of difference.

I'd like to see one or two things in a question using the tag:

• A message emphasizing that feedback is wanted, and that the whole point that the tag is there is to keep the discussion ongoing. Keeping the post open means that people can keep answering, and that brings in more opinions.
• If not such a message, then at least the feedback tag. Maybe it wouldn't do as much, but it might make people feel better - and again, that's why it must be clear that everyone's opinions are valid, as always. The discussion tag, for the record, should always be on an announcements post (in my opinion).

Tim wrote

This tag is for instances where we'd love feedback if folks had any, but don't really have any particular questions to ask or specific kinds of input that we need to build stuff.

People need to know that.

1. Moderator use . . . or not.

I would rather not see moderators use the tag on questions they ask - and I say this as a mod on three sites. I see enough cases of people screaming "mod abuse!", and having a mod prevent a question they ask from being closed or deleted (as a side effect of an announcement) is just an invitation for more of those flame wars. Yeah, I trust my fellow mods to not abuse the tag - and, actually, I get the feeling that many will abstain from using it altogether, even if they should - but I think a lot of users do not have that same trust.

2. Emphasis on feedback.

There have been some really nasty cases where users felt that the company didn't want or care about what they had to say. Whether those feelings were justified or not is immaterial for this point; it just matters that people felt that way. There's a risk that announcements are going to come off as someone talking at people from on high, rather than talking with people on meta. That's a world of difference.

I'd like to see one or two things in a question using the tag:

• A message emphasizing that feedback is wanted, and that the whole point that the tag is there is to keep the discussion ongoing. Keeping the post open means that people can keep answering, and that brings in more opinions.
• If not such a message, then at least the feedback tag. Maybe it wouldn't do as much, but it might make people feel better - and again, that's why it must be clear that everyone's opinions are valid, as always. The discussion tag, for the record, should always be on an announcements post (in my opinion).

Tim wrote

This tag is for instances where we'd love feedback if folks had any, but don't really have any particular questions to ask or specific kinds of input that we need to build stuff.

People need to know that.