Comments on: Daft Bloggers’ Code of Conduct

By: Mordaxus

Mordaxus — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:52:16 +0000

Thanks, Cynthia. My apologies. We use Movable Type here, maybe we can help tweak your settings.

By: Cynthia Brumfield

Cynthia Brumfield — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:29:18 +0000

Hey, Cynthia Brumfield here. I’m not too timid to write the word “porn.” IP Democracy is on a shared server with other blogs and the web hosting company blocks any posts with certain terms in them (to avoid inadvertently hosting porn, gambling or spam sites). The Movable Type software installed on the server will not allow any entries with the word porn, but it will accept p*rn.
I’m not squeamish — my web hoster just uses a blanket filter.

By: Orv

Orv — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:19:15 +0000

Well, it’s draft *and* daft. Daft for the reasons mordaxus mentioned, but also because the kinds of people who would follow a voluntary code of conduct are not the kinds of people who are causing the problem to begin with. People who choose to cause trouble are always going to have a cheering section egging them on, because for many people who frequent blogs and Internet forums the drama and flame wars are where the fun is. The whole point for them is to make trouble and watch the chaos.

By: Nik

Nik — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:01:00 +0000

Surely, Blogger’s Draft Code of Conduct :-)

By: albatross

albatross — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:00:02 +0000

On the contrary, many things you can say will get you ostracized from many communities you care about. The joy of anonymity and pseudonymity is that you can bypass that ostracism by rejoining as a different participant. But many blog comment sections are partially extended converstations between pseudonymous people, and the people using those pseudonyms generally do care what they say on the blog.
Eliminating anonymity eliminates a lot of valuable discussion, because these posts can have consequences. Many people don’t want their next employer doing a Google search on their political arguments, or complaints about their sex life, or discussions about ways to help their autistic daughter in school, or questions about nasty side-effects of protease inhibitors on a medical forum. This is especially important if you don’t know where you’ll apply for work in the future. Maybe your next boss will care, even though your current boss doesn’t. Maybe the new boss who comes in when your old one retires will care, and will make you pay for your ridiculing of his dearly-held religious beliefs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:05:01 +0000

If someone says what they think, even when they don’t think, I can still learn something from it. I might learn to ignore them.

By: Orv

Orv — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:16:41 +0000

I think the underlying problem is that something about Internet forums causes adults to act like playground bullies. Anyone who’s been around on the Internet for a while knows that Kathy Sierra’s experience isn’t unique, or even uncommon. I’ve actually heard people say, in all seriousness, “I got picked on a lot in school, and the Internet is my chance to turn the tables.” Whole websites exist for this purpose — check out Something Awful or Portal of Evil some time. I’ve also heard people suggest, essentially, that this incident was Kathy’s fault for not blogging anonymously.
The dark secret here is that there’s no social contract on the Internet. There is no possible level of offensive behavior that will cause people to ostracize you instead of cheering you on. I’m not sure how to fix that, but I’ve often found it a serious barrier to having real, adult conversations online.