Online Frontiersman forum requires some self-restraint

Frontiersman editorial board

The electronic version of the Frontiersman, at www.frontiersman.com, is offered as an extra service to our readers -- especially those readers who are traveling or who live Outside. One of the most popular areas within the site is Guestbook.

Guestbook is a place where readers can enter brief comments and opinions about the site, the articles or just general comments about the area or the people who live here.

While Guestbook is intended to be a forum for our readers, it is not intended to function as a chatroom, and is certainly not intended as an acceptable place for personal attacks or inappropriate language or comments.

It's important to remember that the Internet is accessed by millions of people each day, from all age groups and backgrounds. Our site is an electronic version of a community-based, family-oriented newspaper, and we maintain high standards in the print version of our publication. Unfortunately, we are unable to screen Guestbook entries before they appear on the site, and we have no way of regulating what types of comments appear there.

Frontiersman adheres to strict guidelines in regard to our letters to the editor. We welcome all letter submissions, but we do screen all letters for content and libel. We also require that each letter be signed, and that the author provide a phone number for verification. Guestbook entries are not subject to these same controls.

Not only can we not prevent inappropriate comments from appearing on the site, but the format does not even require the reader's name or a functioning e-mail

address. Some readers do use their names, and some provide an actual e-mail address for response, but many do not. We would especially encourage readers who enter strong opinions on the site to provide their e-mail addresses so that we can respond if necessary.

Another concern with the Frontiersman's Guestbook is that some people have attempted to use it as a chatroom rather than as the single-entry forum it is intended to be. While some brief exchanges on a single topic are perfectly acceptable, some of these conversations mushroom out of control, and a few people can dominate the entire Guestbook with a single topic. It isn't fair to others who wish to use the Guestbook properly, and the conversations do become tiresome -- and in the case of a recent one concerning bad drivers, distasteful.

While we can remove unwanted messages from Guestbook, we do not have the resources to monitor the site at all times. We ask our readers to help us keep Guestbook clean and functional by using it properly and by using language that is appropriate in a family setting. The anonymity of Guestbook should not be abused by those who haven't the courage of their own convictions.