Submission Guidelines and Editorial Policy

SocialSanford is designed to help people living in Sanford and Lee County know more about what's happening in their community. The purpose is to get everyone out and about right here in our town. There's no need to drive anywhere else to have a fantastic, affordable, memorable time.

To maintain our purpose, we do have a few rules as to what we'll post. They are:

• Items must be actionable. SocialSanford is not free advertisement for your business or fundraiser. We only post items that our Socialites can act on. For instance, your business hours aren't news -- but your 50% off select items is. That you have a Facebook page isn't news -- until you offer a giveaway or other incentive to encourage people to "like" you. The point is action. If there's no action to take, we won't post it.

• Items are posted on SocialSanford's timetable. Once you submit an item or event for consideration, when (or if) we publish it is completely up to us. No amount of emailing the event or posting about it on our wall will speed us up. We add every item to the calendar quickly and then post it on Facebook as is appropriate for the item. Therefore, if you submit an item about a fundraiser for April, don't expect to see it until the end of March.

• If you want something posted on SocialSanford, you should let us know about it. We are pretty good about collecting information from disparate sources, but the most certain way of getting your news or event information published is to send us a heads up (see methods below). If your item doesn't meet our criteria, we'll let you know and put you on the radar for future opportunities. Note: If you post your information on our page and don't see it, most likely the item is stuck in the Spam filter. Contact us so that we can unmark it for you.

Now that you know what information we'll post, you might wonder about how our Facebook page works. That's where you get to play!

• What you can post: Use our Facebook page to share your news and information. This is a great way to let us know about events or news items that we'll want to pick up and re-publish for all Socialites. If you want your item posted ASAP, go ahead and put it up on our Facebook page. Of course, if you post the same information repetitively, we'll delete some of it (not all of it), but you have the freedom to share there.

• What you can't post: SocialSanford is not the place for your political rants or conspiracy theories. We play nicely with each other and treat each other with respect. And, gratefully, in the more-than-12-months since we began SocialSanford, only one specific mean and hateful person has been an issue. Thank you to everyone else! If you have a question about something we've removed, email is the best place to ask it.

Our editorial policy is quite simple. Now that you know it, here are the ways you can submit information:

• Use the submission form on our contact page.
• Post your information on our Facebook page.
• Send an email directly.

This should cover all the potential bases. If you have a question that isn't answered here, feel free to ask it in the comments.