Comments policy

In addition to being a destination for original reporting, commentary, and news aggregation, Progressive Pensacola is intended to be a forum for spirited, unfettered dialogue and debate. Each story on Progressive Pensacola has a comments section where readers can weigh in or respond to others.

We’ve taken a lax attitude in monitoring and regulating reader comments. We’ve found that for the most part, people act like adults, and are civil and respectful toward one another. However, we want to highlight some things which are not acceptable and will not be allowed on Progressive Pensacola:

• Racist, bigoted, or homophobic remarks
• Libellous statements
• Personal attacks or threats directed at other commenters or members of the public
• Spam, advertising, or marketing content
• Pornographic or otherwise illegal content

Comments containing any of the aforementioned will be deleted.

Names

We feel that the use of real names rather than pseudonyms or nicknames elevates the discussion, but we realise there are those uncomfortable with using their real name in an online setting. For that reason, we encourage posters to use real names but do not prohibit the use of pseudonyms or nicknames. We will never identify any commenter who wishes to remain anonymous. That said, do not impersonate others or claim to be someone you are not (see below).

Email address, website

When posting a comment, users have the opportunity to leave an email address and/or website. Neither is required. If you leave an email address, you can enable an option which will notify you via email of any followup comments. If you leave a website address, users that click your name will be taken to your website. Any obscene or otherwise inappropriate website links will be removed.

Impersonation

Additionally, while the use of pseudonyms or other anonymous names is fine, commenters will not be allowed to impersonate other real persons. It’s fine to be anonymous, but don’t represent yourself as someone you are not. Comments posted with the intent of impersonation will be retained, but the name field will be changed to read simply “Anonymous.”

Astroturfing

In the same vein as impersonation, don’t make multiple comments under different names in an attempt to create an artificial appearance of support for your position. It unfairly influences the discussion. If multiple comments are left on a story from the same IP address, but using different names, the first comment will be retained while later ones will be removed.