Code of Conduct?

April 9, 2007 |

So Tim O’Reilly is asking for a blogger code of conduct and I am just not going to buy into it. Neither do Mike Arrington, Dave Winer of Jeff Jarvis, so I feel I am in good company here.

What makes the blogosphere so vibrant and fun is that we can have unfettered conversations. I don’t need another badge on my site that spouts my allegiance to some arbitrary code of conduct. If I hear a rumor from one source, I will make the call if I believe it or not. I will police my commenters and if I don’t like something, I will delete it.

In the end, though, I make that call. It is such an American idea to police “indecency,” but that is such an arbitrary line. The Superbowl wardrobe-malfunction would not have raised any eyebrows in the Netherlands (I know - I used to watch porn reviews on public TV growing up…). Every blogger can set up his/her own rules.

Also, if somebody attacks you online - live with it and understand that what is being said online is always going to be at least one echelon above what people would say face-to-face.

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