"Get a Life, This Is the Internet!"

♠
Is it too late to bring civility to the Web?

The conversational free-for-all on the Internet known as the blogosphere can be a prickly and unpleasant place. Now, a few high-profile figures in high-tech are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse.

... Robert Scoble, a popular technology blogger who stopped blogging for a week in solidarity with Kathy Sierra after her ordeal became public, says the proposed rules “make me feel uncomfortable.” He adds, “As a writer, it makes me feel like I live in Iran.”

Mr. O’Reilly said the guidelines were not about censorship. “That is one of the mistakes a lot of people make — believing that uncensored speech is the most free, when in fact, managed civil dialogue is actually the freer speech,” he said. “Free speech is enhanced by civility.”

-- Brad Stone for The New York Times

When I began reading this article and learned out front that these proposals were headed by BlogHer.com, I was thinking, "Great, feminazism spreading to the blogosphere now!" But then I see that the main proposals deal with bloggers feeling free about deleting libelous or threatening comments from visitors to their blogs and blocking anonymous comments, and I'm pretty tight about protecting myself from harassing comments. I tend to regard my little blog as being more like my home than the public square, but then I also think of this as more of a journal than a blog (those quasi-journalistic things maintained by semi-powerful people).

There are also proposals that sound rather utopian, such as pledging to get a second source when posting gossip or news. There are sets of proposals, and you get to post a badge on your blog corresponding to the set of guidelines you intend to follow. Oooh, Monk with a badge! However, most importantly, it is completely voluntary. Though, one can worry that sometimes these things also get out of hand and become draconian down the road, and pretty soon you won't be able to post tits on your blog, and then what would be the point of having the Internet?

xXx

"Get a Life, This Is the Internet!"

♠
Is it too late to bring civility to the Web?

The conversational free-for-all on the Internet known as the blogosphere can be a prickly and unpleasant place. Now, a few high-profile figures in high-tech are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse.

... Robert Scoble, a popular technology blogger who stopped blogging for a week in solidarity with Kathy Sierra after her ordeal became public, says the proposed rules “make me feel uncomfortable.” He adds, “As a writer, it makes me feel like I live in Iran.”

Mr. O’Reilly said the guidelines were not about censorship. “That is one of the mistakes a lot of people make — believing that uncensored speech is the most free, when in fact, managed civil dialogue is actually the freer speech,” he said. “Free speech is enhanced by civility.”

-- Brad Stone for The New York Times

When I began reading this article and learned out front that these proposals were headed by BlogHer.com, I was thinking, "Great, feminazism spreading to the blogosphere now!" But then I see that the main proposals deal with bloggers feeling free about deleting libelous or threatening comments from visitors to their blogs and blocking anonymous comments, and I'm pretty tight about protecting myself from harassing comments. I tend to regard my little blog as being more like my home than the public square, but then I also think of this as more of a journal than a blog (those quasi-journalistic things maintained by semi-powerful people).

There are also proposals that sound rather utopian, such as pledging to get a second source when posting gossip or news. There are sets of proposals, and you get to post a badge on your blog corresponding to the set of guidelines you intend to follow. Oooh, Monk with a badge! However, most importantly, it is completely voluntary. Though, one can worry that sometimes these things also get out of hand and become draconian down the road, and pretty soon you won't be able to post tits on your blog, and then what would be the point of having the Internet?

xXx