-No obscene material or cursing. No nudity or sexual comments that go too far. No posting links to obscene sites, or posting videos with cursing, sexual content, or gore and violence. SoWal.com is a family site. Basically, nothing is allowed that you wouldn't want a kid to see or read. The SoWal staff shall be the sole arbitrator of what does and what does not violate community standards.
-While debating and discussion is encouraged, we will not tolerate rudeness, insulting posts, personal attacks or purposeless inflammatory posts. Our decision is final in these matters.
-No spam - but any legitimate local business is OK in the appropriate forum, along with a local who has a business elsewhere, or a long-time member promoting something.
-Please do not simply post a link to an article or just a link to another site. Tell us what your purpose is, what you think, why you are posting, whether you are trying to spur an action, simply inform, or start a conversation, etc. Otherwise it is considered spam.
-If someone is honestly trying to sell something in the real estate or "for sale" forums, or promoting a business, do not editorialize or post harsh comments about their offering. Start a new thread if you want to editorialize.
-No giving moderators a hard time. They are working for the benefit of the whole community and should be given respect.
-No trolls or trolling. If you do not feed trolls, they vanish.
-No cross posting, which means no starting the same thread in multiple forums.
-Off-topic thread go in the Lounge subforum - politics, jokes, movies, general chatter, etc.
-While these rules cover most common situations, they cannot anticipate everything. We reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure these forums are not disrupted or abused in any way.
-We reserve the right to remove offensive posts without notice.
-Regarding negative posts about a local businesses, we get very few of those and our policy is to suspend negative posts that will damage a business until there is corroboration, or at least until the business is able to respond with their side of the story. The important thing to remember is that mistakes are made by all businesses and they should have a chance to handle problems privately. Using SoWal.com to vent anger or to try to "get back" at a business is not allowed. If you're not willing to picket a business, or stand outside with a bullhorn broadcasting your grievance then it probably shouldn't be posted on SoWal.com.
-Politics, religion, and other contentious topics are OK in the lounge, as long as you are respectful. Resorting to personal attacks or name calling will not be tolerated.
-The SoWal Forum is meant to be a place where folks who love SoWal Beaches can share and bond. It is a place to foster community in a positive manner. No community is perfect and we want to be able to discuss real issues, but without being rude or disrespectful. Short critical posts (drive-by posting) is not allowed. If you don't like something tell us what needs to be done to improve the situation. Be part of the solution, not the problem.
