There have been quite a lot of articles recently about some serious nastiness in the blog world (not around here though, it’s a nice neighbourhood here). Slashdot (which I read everyday ‘cause I’m a techie) has a quick summary of the situation, as does the New York Times. (Update: also see the Wired article.) While this sort of harassment hasn’t affected me, and hopefully never will, it did get me thinking about how we behave on line. For me, it isn’t any different to how I behave to people around me in the waking world. The fact I use a handle here (Icy isn’t my real name, did you guess?) doesn’t change who I am and what I consider appropriate behaviour.
The code of conduct proposed by Tim O’Reilly (yes, that O’Reilly) is a good start, as is the community guidelines for BlogHer. I’m going to share and expand on their ideas and have my own code of conduct.
- I won’t say anything online about other people that I wouldn’t say to their face. While I might reveal more personal detail about me here than I might in a casual conversation, I won’t bitch about specific people. Well, maybe a little bit about celebrities, but only in a helpful, uplifting sort of way. This doesn’t mean I won’t vent about general things/people/situations/ugg boots outdoors/other things that annoy me. After all, that’s what blogging is all about.
- If tensions escalate, we will connect privately before we respond publicly. Sounds good and I’ll try.
- We ignore the trolls. If a troll ever decides to visit, I’ll politely suggest that crocs are only good for while living under the bridge and not walking around in, but otherwise I’ll ignore them.
- I’ll always try to quote properly and not steal other people’s words, and I’ll always link back to original content (just like in this post).
- Lots of points of view is a good thing. I don’t just want to have my own ideas fed back to me, I want to see the world in different ways. How this relates to style and fashion, I’m not sure, but you know what I mean.
- I don’t mind anonymous comments, and people can comment anonymously on my blog if they want.
- But I reserve the right to delete comments if I find them offensive or inappropriate. Freedom of speech is a nice concept, and you’re perfectly welcome to exercise your right to it (if you’re American) on your own blog; I don’t have to host it here. Besides I’m Australian; freedom of speech is not enshrined in our constitution (in fact, the only right so enshrined is the freedom of religion, odd that).
What do you consider to be your personal Blogger’s Code of Conduct? Do you agree with the suggested ones? What would you add?
Revised 29th May 2009
RELATED Why What not to wear, Why I blog, Why Individual Chic, Code of Conduct; Inappropriate shoes in Sydney, Argh, crocs
2 chic comments:
Very interesting. I was just talking about another blogger about another blog that was stealing her bandwidth and ideas. Don't people have any of their own creativity?
It is disapointing when that sort of stuff happens. All we can seem to do is make sure we don't do it ourselves.
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