Maven Net exists to give consultants a place to speak honestly about professional experience — something that’s genuinely difficult to do anywhere else. That purpose only works if the content is credible, and credibility depends on people following a few basic principles.
These rules aren’t designed to water down what you can say. They’re designed to protect you legally, protect the site, and ensure that what gets posted is actually useful to other consultants.
The Most Important Rule: Describe Behaviour, Not Character
This is the single rule that matters most, legally and practically.
There is a clear difference between these two types of statement. The examples below illustrate where the line is.
The test to apply before posting: am I describing what happened, or am I making a character judgement? The first is protected. The second is not — and more importantly, the first is far more useful to someone trying to decide whether to accept a contract.
If you name an individual, stick to describing their professional behaviour and its consequences. Leave personal assessments out.
To put it plainly: personal attacks are not professional. They reflect poorly on the person making them, they add nothing useful for other consultants, and they expose both the poster and the site to legal risk that is entirely avoidable. There is no shortage of legitimate, factual, experience-based criticism to be made about bad clients and poor management — none of it requires calling anyone an idiot.
Examples of the Distinction
Not permitted: “The manager at [client] is an incompetent idiot who has no idea what he is doing.”
Permitted: “The manager changed the project scope every week without notice and consistently blamed the team when deadlines were missed as a result.”
The second version is more useful to other contractors. Specific, factual, experience-based content is what makes this site valuable — and it happens to be the version that is professionally appropriate and legally sound.
Warning Others About a Specific Manager
This is one of the most valuable things this site can do — and it is entirely within the rules, provided it is done correctly.
Naming a manager in connection with specific professional behaviour is permitted, provided it is factual and based on your direct experience. “The project manager on [site] fired three members of the team within six months for disagreeing with his technical decisions” is a factual account of observed behaviour. It is specific, it is useful to other contractors considering that client, and it is not a personal attack. It is exactly the kind of content this site exists to host.
The distinction, as always, is between describing behaviour and making character judgements. “Fired three people for disagreeing with him” is the former. “Is a vindictive bully” is the latter. The first is a warning. The second is an opinion stated as fact, and it is the second that creates legal risk.
If you are uncertain whether naming someone is appropriate, post the behaviour without the name. A description specific enough to identify the client site and role will reach the people who need to know, without the additional exposure of naming the individual directly. A future contractor who is offered a role on that site and reads your post will recognise exactly who is being described.
General Guidelines
- English only — this is a professional community and moderation is only possible in one language
- You are responsible for all content posted under your account. Guard your username and password carefully
- If you believe someone has used your account without your permission, contact us immediately
What Is Not Permitted
- Defamatory content — false statements of fact about named individuals, or personal character attacks that go beyond describing professional behaviour. See above.
- False claims — posting information you know to be untrue. This includes exaggerated or fabricated accounts of events.
- Spam — irrelevant posts, advertising, or unsolicited promotion of products or services
- Hate speech — content that incites hatred or discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or any other characteristic
- Adult content — obscene or sexually explicit material
- Threats — any form of violence or intimidation directed at any person
- Bullying — targeted or sustained harassment of individual members
- Illegal activities — promoting or facilitating anything unlawful
- Off-topic content — reviews and discussions should relate to professional experience as a consultant
A Note on Legal Risk
The Icelandic jurisdiction provides genuine protection against the kind of legal pressure — threatening letters, fishing expeditions, politically motivated takedown requests — that silences most review sites. It does not place this site outside all law.
If you are considering posting something about a named individual and you are unsure whether it crosses the line, the safest approach is to describe the behaviour and its professional consequences without naming the person, or to wait until the contract has ended and post with enough general detail that the individual is not identifiable.
When in doubt: describe what happened. That’s what other consultants need to know anyway.
Moderation
Posts that clearly violate these rules will be removed. In cases involving named individuals, we may contact the poster before removing content if clarification is needed.
If you believe a post about you is defamatory or factually false, contact us with details. We will review it. We are not in the business of protecting bad clients from honest criticism — but we will remove content that constitutes genuine defamation.
You can be entirely honest about professional experiences without crossing any of these lines. Most consultants who have something worth saying will have no difficulty staying within them.