Is It Time For A Blogging Code Of Conduct?
You’ve written a piece which you have posted to your blog and the comments have come rolling in. This is good news for you as you were hoping that the response to your article would generate some feedback. Unfortunately, one comment in the bunch is way over the top as this person accuses you in a libelous fashion.
Now for an important dilemma — do you leave negative comments in place or do you edit them out? Or, do you take the highly unusual step of deleting this person’s comments completely?
Once in awhile I get a comment that I find to be just plain disgusting. Yes, I cherish free speech but I also want to have a certain amount of civil discourse take place. At the very least I do not allow anonymous comments — if you want to say something, good or bad, then you should have the guts to stand by your words.
There is a movement underfoot within the blogging community to establish some guidelines or standards by which bloggers can identify that they uphold a certain code of blogging ethics. I first learned about this activity when I visited Mark Blair’s new SMOblog and read his take on Tim O’Reilly’s bid to establish some standards. Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, a computer book publishing company and media group. He is widely received as a leader in promoting Web 2.0 practices.
Well, I have examined the proposed document as well as have read some of the comments and I must say that I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I can understand that if someone has received death threats, then you would want to have a code of conduct in place (not that the code would stop someone from making good on his threats). On the other side of it all, I have personally been pressured to “monitor” unseemly comments on a forum that I host, as one or more people did not like what was said about them. As some legal analysts say when it comes to curtailing free speech, these types of demands certainly do have a chilling effect. As Voltaire once said, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it’. Okay, maybe some speech isn’t worth falling on one’s sword for, but where do you draw the line?
So go ahead and leave your snarky comments, your mindless banter, or your pearls of wisdom here. If it isn’t spam, I’ll probably approve it unless, of course, you cross a certain undefined line and then all bets are off!
Most comments, if controversial, create the opportunity for you to respond and that’s a good thing. Death threats? I would think I would leave them as evidence and then contact the FBI, then inform the threatener that the game is on, unless of course it WAS the FBI that left the death threat in the first place. I like comments that expose high level secrets and threaten governments. Get all that hidden stuff out in the open.
Wow, to have such a popular blog where governments could be toppled! I agree with the FBI thing as I would probably forward the worst threat to law enforcement for assistance unless, of course, the men in black are behind the threat. Yikes!
I run several blogs — mostly news blogs — which get surprisingly few comments. I do have the comments set for moderation on all, and my stated policy is to publish all comments that are not either blatant spam, or just plain abusive (in language or intent). Otherwise I publish the comments, whether or the point of view matches mine. I think that’s what ‘Web 2.0′ really is all about.
Oops — that next to last last sentence should have read “whether or NOT the point of view matches mine.”
I agree, B N! Just to let you know, I have taken steps to make sure that virtually all comments are not only posted here, but that the dreaded “no follow” attribute is not attached to each comment.
The code of conduct is completely irrelevant unless there is some sort of enforcement. Do you think people who are already breaking laws by sending death threats will voluntarily abide by these rules?
As for the free speech, I’m sorry. My blog is not a public place. I won’t stop you from starting your own blog and saying anything you want, but my blog is my own. I generally don’t delete comments, but I have in the past when they were particularly offensive. I won’t hesitate to do it again.
The reason I mention that my blog isn’t a public place is because none of us must be subject to other people’s free speech in our own homes. They can say what they want in public, but if they’re on my private property I can ask them to leave because I don’t want to hear it. I see my blog in the same light. There is free speech all over the web from a broader perspective, but no single website is under any obligation to allow people to post whatever they like.