Intel® has posted their "Social Media Guidelines" which are a great guide for how to conduct yourself in this new social web in a manner that builds trust, mutual respect, civility and speaks to true power of Groupsites helping people communicate, share and network to make things happen.
The part that jumped out at me was their stance on guidelines for moderating content. There are plenty of strategies for moderating content including software that filters certain words or phrases, placing all comments on hold until a moderator can approve before posting as well as limiting the ability to post to a select approved few.
Any of these strategies can work but all run the risk of slowing the natural momentum of the conversation which sometimes can hurt the effectiveness of the communication.
Intel's guideline for moderation is stating quite simply: "The Good, The Bad but Not the Ugly."
If you have something positive to say, great. Say it. If you have something negative to say, great. Say it. As long as it is in context with the conversation. If however, the comments are offensive, denigrating or completely out of context then they are subject to being edited or removed.
The great thing about Groupsites is that there are lots of ways to keep things on track (both good and bad) while eliminating the ugly.
Groupsites have no software based filtering or content approval function. Groupsite Managers do have the ability to edit, delete and move any content within a Groupsite.
Perhaps more importantly, by establishing a defined purpose for the group and clearly stating to all members what is acceptable, you will find that if the rare case of "the uglies" happens, members can (and will) use the feedback link or contact the Groupsite managers to let them know that something is off-topic or "ugly." (The feedback link is available at the bottom of every Groupsite page, as well as under the HELP tab at the top right of every Groupsite page.)
We don't all have to agree to have a meaningful, productive conversation. But mutual respect sure goes a long way to helping make things happen.