EightBlack.

Earlier this week, the blogs and news feeds were all running with the story about a couple of well respected online guys wanting to introduce “a blogging code of conduct”.

Tim O’Reilly, creator of the phrase “Web 2.0″ - and incidentally, the organiser of the very conference I’m on my way to right now and Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, are proposing a “Blogging Code of Conduct” to impose civility on the Internet.

I don’t disagree with it.

The thing that urks me somewhat with our own blog are the people who are quick to comment on posts but then want to hide behind a veil of anonymity.

I agree with the sentiment that you shouldn’t post articles or comments in the blogosphere that you weren’t or aren’t prepared to say to a persons face.

But it’s like this.

Imagine trying to regulate what people said in their cars, on their drive to work.

Just the other day, my 2 kids were in the back of the car as we headed to my parents for dinner. We came up to an intersection and amazingly, according to my wife, I did not do anything wrong. The car beside me must have honked his horn at someone else.

But it was a loud noise. It startled us all - especially the kids. And when it happened, all in a split second, my 3 year old daughter yelled out instinctively “F-U-C-K!!!!”

For a moment, I thought my wife said it. I knew at least I didn’t say it. And my son uses a lot more colourful language than the F word when things like this normally happen.

Being modern day parents of a 3 and 6 year old, we decided to do the mature thing and just ignore it. Pretend it never happened.

Then my son started.

“Ally said the F word….”

“Did she? Oh well, never mind. She must have been scared when the car honked its horn”

My wife said ‘Where did she learn that from?”

Son said “From Dad…”

And that’s exactly why I just wanted to ignore the whole incident, keep driving and when we got to dinner, drink heavily.

Because when we drive - and mostly by ourselves, we change personalties. Boring accountants and tax office employees turn into extras from a Mad Max movie. We swear, we cuss, we insult the driver in front to the point where we not only abuse him beyond belief, but we include his family, his village and his church.

You can see it everyday. Or maybe is it just me.

Try it on your way home. Count the number of times you say the words “Wanker, arsehole, prick, dickhead, arse wipe,….” I could go out but I’ve run out of words and if you want any more, I’ll have to call my kids.

And the internet is no different.

Blogs and forums allow people to be someone else. And in a nutshell, thats the sort of beauty of it. People change personalities. They say things that they wouldnt ordinarily say.

My simple view with “serial posters”, ie those people who stalk the author or the blog or go on an on (and we have some who read and write in to this blog) is that they either have very boring day jobs, have a lot of unresolved issues with their parents or need to get out more.

I just don’t see how a blogging code of conduct will or could be enforced. And it sort of reeks of being politically correct, which shits me beyond belief.

The way I write this blog, flawed and all, is I hope, the way you and I would have a conversation in a pub, with a drink in our hands. I might swear, I might not. But I will tell you what I think. And I’d hate that aspect of blogging to change.

This issue of a Blogging Code Of Conduct is not dead yet. In fact, it’s only just the beginning.

Tomorrow, I’ll be in the US and this weekend, will begin posting from Web 2.0 Expo. Maybe if I can track him down, I’ll corner Tim O’Reilly and ask him if he thinks he’ll be able to put the lid back on the Pandora’s Box he’s just opened.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 11:26 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.