Online community guidelines

We welcome lively debate and discussion on our blog and other social media channels, and encourage the expression of different points of view.

We want our online community to be a safe online destination where everyone feels welcome, heard, valued, and free to express their opinions, even when they disagree.

Here’s how you can help.

Create lively discussions

You can help keep online discussions interesting, informative, and useful to the entire community by following some simple guidelines for posting content.

Post for the benefit of the community

Remember, you are contributing to an ongoing conversation. We encourage comments that are insightful, educational, or help generate discussion among our community members.

Consider your comments

Is your comment relevant to the conversation at hand? Will your remarks help move the conversation forward? We encourage you to consider your comment, and whether it will add value to the discussion.

Stay on topic

Please bear in mind the title and topic of the blog or social media post you are commenting on before writing your comment.

Disagree respectfully

Discussion, debate, and even disagreement, are vital parts of a productive online conversation.  If you disagree with someone, remember that you are typically arguing about opinions, in which case, nobody is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’

Online behaviour to avoid

Just as there are ways you can keep the conversation safe and respectful, we have a number of guidelines covering behaviours we ask you to avoid.

Failure to follow these guidelines will result in your content being rejected or removed. If you fail to follow the guidelines several times, you will no longer be allowed to be a member of our online community.

Personal attacks

Comments that attack our writers, other District staff, residents, or our elected representatives are not acceptable. Name calling, threats, and verbal abuse is not tolerated. Do not make libellous statements or comments about others that include false or unsubstantiated allegations.

Racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination (hate speech)

Attacking a group of people, or suggesting all members of a particular group share the same traits or behaviors, is not acceptable.

Obscenity and violence

Sexually explicit, violent, or graphic images are not permitted in our community, nor is vulgar or violent language. Do not post links to obscene materials.

Trolling

Inflammatory comments written to try derailing a conversation are not accepted, and put you at risk of being banned from our online community entirely.

Spam

Comments intended to promote your business, services, or products are not accepted, nor are identical comments posted to multiple blog posts.

Offensive usernames

If your username includes words that are offensive or abusive, your comments will not be published.

Privacy

Comments that reveal private or personal details about other members of the community, District staff, or elected representatives are not allowed.

Discussion of moderation actions

Posts about decisions made by our moderators are not accepted, nor is the reposting of comments that have already been removed or rejected.

Illegal activities

You are required to obey all the laws of Canada, BC, and the District when participating in our online community. Do not solicit others to share their personal information, invade their privacy, harass them, or impersonate them online. Do not post links to sites that contain viruses or other malicious programs.

About the moderators

The DNV blog and other social media channels are monitored by District staff.

Moderators use their best judgement to apply these guidelines in a fair way, and moderate activities appropriately to ensure the overall health of our online community.

Moderators have the final decision on what is and isn’t acceptable use of the community.

About our anti-bullying and harrassment policy

We are committed to, and will be diligent in our efforts to provide, a work environment that treats employees with respect and is supportive of the personal dignity, self-esteem and well-being of staff.

Responsibility for creating and maintaining a positive workplace environment rests with all persons sharing our workplace, including Council members, all employees and volunteers.

Bullying and harassment is not acceptable or tolerated in the workplace.

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