Do You Think the Bloggers Code Of Conduct Will Be Useful?

Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media, has published a draft proposal for a Blogging Code Of Conduct based on the BlogHer Community Guidelines. This has come about after the Kathy Sierra episode. Full draft below:

We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation. But frankness does not have to mean lack of civility. We present this Blogger Code of Conduct in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation.1. We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog.

We are committed to the “Civility Enforced” standard: we will not post unacceptable content, and we’ll delete comments that contain it.

We define unacceptable content as anything included or linked to that:
- is being used to abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others
- is libelous, knowingly false, ad-hominem, or misrepresents another person,
- infringes upon a copyright or trademark
- violates an obligation of confidentiality
- violates the privacy of others

We define and determine what is “unacceptable content” on a case-by-case basis, and our definitions are not limited to this list. If we delete a comment or link, we will say so and explain why. [We reserve the right to change these standards at any time with no notice.]

2. We won’t say anything online that we wouldn’t say in person.

3. We connect privately before we respond publicly.

When we encounter conflicts and misrepresentation in the blogosphere, we make every effort to talk privately and directly to the person(s) involved–or find an intermediary who can do so–before we publish any posts or comments about the issue.

4. When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we take action.

When someone who is publishing comments or blog postings that are offensive, we’ll tell them so (privately, if possible–see above) and ask them to publicly make amends.
If those published comments could be construed as a threat, and the perpetrator doesn’t withdraw them and apologize, we will cooperate with law enforcement to protect the target of the threat.

5. We do not allow anonymous comments.

We require commenters to supply a valid email address before they can post, though we allow commenters to identify themselves with an alias, rather than their real name.

6. We ignore the trolls.

We prefer not to respond to nasty comments about us or our blog, as long as they don’t veer into abuse or libel. We believe that feeding the trolls only encourages them–”Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, but the pig likes it.” Ignoring public attacks is often the best way to contain them.

It’s rare that I agree with what Scoble writes, but I think he is right that rules 3, 5 and 6 are unnecessary. One of the reasons I blog is I like to hear the views of many other people. It’s one of the reasons I started the Connected Internet forum for discussion that doesn’t live within a particular post.  I also don’t have a problem with anonymous comments and trolls. At the moment I let anything through as long as it’s not in breach of rule 1.

I wish there was some way to enforce rule 2. I think one of the main problems with the web is it allows people to say things they wouldn’t dare to someone’s face. It would definitely deal with a lot of the comments you get from a typical ‘digg’ user.

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