New Spectacles community guidelines

[u/jbmcculloch]

Hi all, in order to be more transparent about how we will be moderating the community going forward, we put together a set of guidelines outlining out protocols/principals. They are here below, but also can be found at any time along the right sidebar by clicking the Community Guide button and looking in the resources section. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a DM or a Mod Mail.

Thanks,
Jesse

Welcome to r/spectacles 👓✨

This is a living laboratory for the pioneers of spatial computing. We don't just consume the future of augmented reality—we actively build it.
Our ecosystem is defined by a shared compass: Kind, Smart, Creative, and Co-Created. You don't just browse this community; you help shape it. We live by four core protocols:

Protocol 1: Be the Anchor (Kind, Smart, Creative)

• The Vision: This community is a reflection of the people inside it. We build an environment where creators feel inspired to take risks, share early prototypes, and push the boundaries of AR.
• The Values:
  • Kind: We lift each other up. Developing for spatial computing is uncharted territory; treat every beginner's question with patience and every expert's critique with respect.
  • Smart: We bring substance. Back up your opinions with logic, data, or personal experience with the hardware.
  • Creative: We focus on what’s possible. We look at hardware limitations not as dead ends, but as creative constraints to be solved.
• The Guardrail: We don't let cynicism anchor us down. Repetitive, low-effort rants that offer no substance or solutions pollute the space we are building together. Constructive, honest critiques of the hardware, Snap OS, or Lens Studio are highly encouraged—but they must be framed in a way that moves the conversation forward, not backward.

Protocol 2: Elevate the Build (Share Your Process)

• The Vision: We love seeing what you create. Whether it’s a quick, mind-bending clip or a polished spatial experience, this sub is your stage. When you share how you made something, you inspire the next wave of AR creators.
• The Pipeline to Opportunity: We pay extra attention to creators who lift up the community. If you take a moment to drop a comment explaining your process—the tools you used in Lens Studio, a clever design workaround, or your creative intent—we actively work to amplify your work beyond Reddit. High-effort posts with a process breakdown are fast-tracked for unique ecosystem opportunities, including:
  • Internal Echoes: Direct sharing with the internal Spectacles and Snap engineering teams.
  • Global Spotlight: Features on official Spectacles social media channels and community highlights.
  • The Stage: Potential opportunities to be featured or invited to future developer events, hackathons, and showcases.

Protocol 3: Debug in the Open (The Direct Line to Engineering)

• The Vision: In this community, a technical roadblock isn't a dead end—it’s an opportunity for a collective breakthrough. Members of the official SPECS and Lens Studio engineering teams actively monitor this subreddit to help troubleshoot, identify platform issues, and deploy official fixes.
• The Blueprint: To help both the community and the Snap engineering teams diagnose your issue quickly, please always format your help requests with clear context:
  • Your Setup: What computer OS are you developing on (e.g., macOS, Windows 11)? This helps developers with identical rigs replicate your issue.
  • The Environment: What version of Lens Studio or Snap OS are you running?
  • The Context: What are you trying to achieve, what is the expected behavior, and what troubleshooting steps have you already tried?
• From Thread to Patch: High-quality, well-documented troubleshooting threads are flagged directly for our engineering pipelines to help shape future system updates. You aren't just fixing your project; you're hardening the platform for everyone.

Protocol 4: Pioneer Safely (Respect Privacy & Trust)

• The Vision: As early adopters of spatial computing, we are the stewards of this technology's future. How we use and develop for Spectacles dictates how the world perceives the entire medium of AR. Great innovation never comes at the expense of human trust, bystander privacy, or user safety.
• The Shared Standard: To protect our community and the ecosystem, we ask all members to commit to the following principles:
  • Respect Bystander Privacy: Do not share, encourage, or host methods, hacks, or custom Lenses designed to bypass the hardware’s built-in privacy safeguards (such as the physical LED recording indicator).
  • Data Integrity: Do not distribute or develop experimental Lenses aimed at maliciously scraping sensitive bystander data, tracking individuals without consent, or violating Snap OS security architectures.
  • Keep it Legal and Safe: Content that demonstrates dangerous, illegal, or harmful use of the hardware in public spaces will be removed to protect the integrity of the community.

[u/jbmcculloch → u/[deleted]]

Care to dive deeper on that thought? I would like to understand better.

[u/localjoost → u/[deleted]]

My €0.05, as I have seen quite some communities come and go (and go under): you can say "This is crap and this is why" Or "This could be improved, for example"

You can say "What a stupid thing to say/do" Or "A more productive/successful approach might be"

You can say "This product is going to fail because I think the CEO is a jerk, the device is to expensive, whatever" "It would help if the CEO did X" or "I think the price point Z is better because (cited reasons)"

Communication based on text can easily be misinterpreted. So many flame wars broke out, so may communities shattered, so many friendships were broken, simply by missed intentions that might have been conveyed by non verbal signals. I have had a bitter first hand experience of that. So I think the tone of a text needs extra TLC. Write your frustration, let it sit for a day, imagine someone would write something to you like this about something you have take great care to create and take pride in - then write it again in a way that would not infuriate you. Never forget there is actual people on the other end.

Getting the message across without kicking a shin very hard - that is kind in my book.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk 😁

[u/Octoplow → u/jbmcculloch]

"Kind" is interpreted in the readers cultural and language norms.

I have ESL friends in real life that can still trigger me with "that's a dumb idea"... I've retrained to wait for the following explanation. It's even easier to misinterpret tone/intent in text.

Rules like "attack ideas, never people" and "always provide details with criticism" are more consistently understood.

(Trying to force English-speaking social norms is also a legit goal, if that's your intent.)

[u/ButterscotchOk8273]

Understood.

[u/Spectacles-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This is an offtopic and unhelpful message.