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« Thanksgiving Captured | Main | Happy Thanksgiving » November 24, 2004Blogger EthicsTTLB points to an proposal by blogmeister Nick Denton to create some kind of permanent institution dedicated to blogger ethics. The concept, as I understand it, would be to establish something dedicated to keeping bloggers honest by 'rapping the knuckles' of bloggers who violate ethical standards. While I'm sure that Nick has the best of intentions here, I really think such a committee undermines some of the best aspects of the blogosphere. There is no central committee designating certain blogs as good or bad as things now stand. If you take a look at the best-known blogs (using the Bear's own ecosystem as an easy example), there is a mix of old hands and new blood. While it's certainly difficult to break into the top echelon of bloggers, the same is true of breaking into the top echelon of any endeavor; I don't think it's any more difficult in the blogosphere than anywhere else. So how do you gain an audience? (A cynic might argue that I'm not the best person to answer that question, but we'll leave that be.) Much like the old joke about Carnegie Hall, you get there by writing a lot of good stuff. Take a look at Bill Whittle: he started blogging in December 2002, doesn't produce a great deal, and he's just published a book that will probably do reasonably well. Why? Because he produces a quality product. We can't all be Bill Whittles or Atrios (Atrioses?), but if you're willing to put the work into it, you can still break into the blogosphere and be successful largely thanks to your own effort. Yes, you need to be noticed by a few big name bloggers in order to get people looking in your direction, but once you do that, the rest depends on whether or not what you write is good enough to get people to come back the next day. Creating some council on blogger ethics strikes me as contrary to this ethic. Will prospective bloggers be expected to hew to this code they've had no part in shaping? If so, why? Further, how on Earth do they propose to keep politics out of it? I assume most people familiar with the blogosphere are familiar with the hubbub that surrounded the Daily Kos' "screw 'em" remarks in response to the killing of four contractors in Fallujah this year; he was generally condemnned, but his readers continued to pour in and he came through the controversy generally unscathed. What might such an incident do to the credibility of such an ethics commission? There's no safe place there; stand aside, and one side will condemn you for tolerating an ethical breach; take a stand and be accused of partisanship and worse. How long would this kind of ethical committee last before one side or the other decided it was merely a tool of the leftists/VRWC and abandoned it? If people want to form voluntary associations, more power to them. But I think this kind of project is doomed to failure. Ultimately, the people who decide what the ethical standards for bloggers should be are the bloggers themselves and their audiences.Posted at November 24, 2004 11:49 AM
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» Blogger Ethics? from FreedomSight Tracked on November 27, 2004 06:52 PM CommentsI think you've got it right. I see blogging as freedom of speech at its best, and yes, sometimes worst. Creating rules and/or a council is just not an option. Happy Thanksgiving! Tootles! Posted by: THe Violin Duchess at November 25, 2004 06:38 AM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |
