Posting of events outside of town

This is a tricky one. The list guidelines currently indicate that the lists are "... not a venue for general announcements about Upper Valley events from those not connected with the town." Posts about nonprofit events happening in that town are encouraged on each town's list. We sometimes see posts that bend this rule a bit - for instance, someone in a theater group in another town encouraging their neighbors to attend a performance.

We've seen other town discussion lists where posts about events outside of town are allowed when they are deemed to be of interest to those in town. We want to make sure that the guidelines are clear about what is and is not appropriate. We're pretty sure that if each town discussion list becomes a place for an Upper Valley event presenter to post the same announcement about their upcoming events, that the unique character and usefulness of each town's discussion list will diminish.

Who can post to each town's list

The list guidelines currently indicate

"Please note that it is the intent of this discussion list to center on issues and events directly affecting this particular town. While anyone is welcome to subscribe to and read these discussions, we ask that only residents, representatives of town government, and representatives of organizations and businesses located in town post to this list. "

There has been some discussion that it might be appropriate to allow those with either a current interest in the town (but who do not reside there) or who formerly lived in town (but who have, for instance, retired out of the area) to post to each town's discussion list. Our concern is that opening up the posting privileges to those outside of the town may mean that posts to the town's discussion forum will become less about the town and more about the concerns of those outside of the town.

If the list guidelines were changed to allow posts from former residents, we would think that it would be appropriate to ask them to indicate their connection with the town ("used to live next to the school", "former town manager", etc.) in each of their posts.

Anonymous postings

There is currently no policy on anonymous postings, although the poster's email addresses show when they post to a community discussion list. We've had several suggestions over the last few months that anonymous postings should be discouraged.

The list guidelines could be changed to indicate that, except in extraordinary circumstances, anonymous postings are inappropriate for these community discussion lists. There may be circumstances where an anonymous post might be appropriate, but we'd suggest that would need to be arranged with the list administrator in advance of posting to the list.

The option here would be to indicate in the list guidelines that posters are expected to list their name and town at the end of their posts to the town discussion list, unless other arrangements have been made with the list administrator.

In offering and managing our community discussion lists, ValleyNet's aim is to give those involved with each town a forum for discussions and announcements about their town. We think it is a useful way for residents, town leaders, and in-town businesses and organizations to communicate with each other. We do our best to manage these lists with a light hand and with the best interests of each town in mind, but we occasionally review the list guidelines that we operate under to keep the discussion lists useful and vital. Here are a few areas in which there may be room for some change; please feel free to weigh in with your opinions.

For more information about the discussion lists we offer, visit www.valley.net/communitylists .