The Blogger's Code of Conduct was a proposal by
Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly (born 6 June 1954) is the founder of O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates). He popularised the terms open source and Web 2.0.
Education and early life
Born in County Cork, Ireland, Tim O'Reilly moved to San Francisco, Ca ...
for
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
gers to adopt a uniform policy for moderation of comments. It was proposed in 2007, in response to controversy involving threats made to blogger
Kathy Sierra. The idea of the code was first reported by
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, who quoted O'Reilly saying, "I do think we need some code of conduct around what is acceptable behaviour, I would hope that it doesn't come through any kind of regulation it would come through self-regulation.".
In Ireland, a proposal for a code was raised in an article in
Sunday Business Post
The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland.
Founding to Irish financial crisi ...
in 2009 by
Simon Palmer
Simon Palmer is an English DJ from Cumbria, England. He presents the radio show Back2Basics, which airs on RTÉ Pulse. It is formally Ireland's only weekly all-vinyl radio show and was the first vinyl show to appear on RTÉ since the 1990s. Back2 ...
, a radio presenter and PR consultant in Dublin, after false details in relation to a client had appeared on Irish blog
Time To Raise Above Blog Standard After his comments he was subjected to sustained on line abuse from Irish bloggers and anonymous trolls and even received death threats.
In Nepal, 10 prominent bloggers signed a Code of Ethics for Bloggers, first proposed by
Ujjwal Acharya and finalized after discussion among bloggers, on July 27, 2011.
According to ''The New York Times'', O'Reilly and others based their preliminary list on one developed by the
BlogHer women's blogging support network
and, working with others, came up with a list of seven proposed ideas:
#Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
#Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
#Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
#Don't feed the
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...
s.
#Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
#If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
#Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.
Reception
Reaction to the proposal was internationally widespread among bloggers and media writers. According to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', the
blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can pu ...
described it as "excessive, unworkable and an open door to censorship."
Author Bruce Brown approved of the code, reproducing in his book on blogging.
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximat ...
founder
Michael Arrington and entrepreneur and blogger
Dave Winer
Dave Winer (born May 2, 1955, in Queens, New York City) is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and writer who resides in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web servic ...
were two notable Americans who wrote against the plan.
Technology blogger
Robert Scoble stated that the proposed rules “make me feel uncomfortable” and “As a writer, it makes me feel like I live in Iran.”
References
External links
"Draft Blogger's Code of Conduct"by Tim O'Reilly
by Tim O'Reilly
Blogger Content PolicyCode of Ethics for Bloggers by Bloggers Association of Nepal-->
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blogger's Code Of Conduct
Blogging
Internet culture
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Internet ethics
2007 documents