Gazette Comment Policy

We love that you are here, reading this blog, and are happy that you may want to comment on the subjects herein — but we’re also strong believers in the value of online civility and respectful conversation, and we’re all too aware that conversations about our community, events and news can raise controversy and/or temperatures, and this is, foremost to be a site to inform, educate and empower the people and friends of Seldovia.  This is not, and never will be a loose lipped rag for negative or non-productive prose.

We reserve the right to delete or edit comments that strike us as:

• rude
• judgmental
• ranty
• attacking
• off-topic
• self promotional

This doesn’t mean, of course, that you can’t disagree with people here. You just need to do so constructively and with respect. You also need to do it with integrity, which means that if you want to be constructive, you better not hide behind an anonymous comment.  No anonymous comments will be posted.

Maybe this policy seems harsh, but ultimately it boils down to this: We believe that online ranting and criticism is a waste of everyone’s time. Since we pay the bills to keep the Seldovia Gazette online, we’re pretty clear about the kind of conversation we’re willing to host.

We understand that this comment policy won’t be a good fit for everyone’s communication style — and we’re fine with that. Thankfully, it’s a great big internet out there, and we heartily encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions however you might like via your own blog or website, or on another site that matches your communication style.

We believe in respectfully agreeing to disagree and moving on to the things that really matter — like living, working, serving and playing in our lovely community in ways that work best for each of us, acknowledging that how that looks may be different for different people.

Business owner commenting policies

While we love having business owners involved in the discussions here in the Seldovia Gazette, the comment section is NOT the place to promote your business. If you’d like to promote your business online with the Seldovia Gazette, you’re much better off joining us as a sponsor.

• Please do not use your business name anywhere in your comment — not as your name, not in the body of your comment, not anywhere. You may use your website in the URL field, but if you use a name like “Seldovia Sports Outlet” or “Kachemak Bay Swim Club,” your comment will be deleted.
• Don’t leave meaningless comments. Things like “Very unique!” “Love this!” or “Awesome!” This consider this a half-step above spam, and we will delete it.
• That said, if you place an advertorial, feel free to respond to reader comments to your sponsored post!

Again: we understand these policies won’t be popular with all readers — and that’s fine! Thank goodness there’s a great big internet out there.