Full Circle Associates

RAMBLE ALERT!! This is just flowing out.

First, following on from Johnnie and Chris, I can't resist reposting this YouTub vid. I watched it in a blissful moment after eating a piece of buttered toast made with some amazing chocolate bread from our local farmer's market. Bread and music put me in a lovely state of mind. And I think that feels like really useful context for me before I start to ramble about bloggers codes of conduct.

Now, what I want to write about. What do we mean by a "bloggers code of conduct?" What is the context, because for me, context is everything. (Oh, and this is not a new topic. Nor, if we think about it, is it just about the online world, but I'll save that for later.)

I start with a few bloggers whose voices I appreciate and listen to:

From a comment by Euan on his blog: Saying we need a blogging code of conduct to behave ...

"if we each apply our own sense of right and wrong and take responsibility for reacting when we see something we think is damaging our emerging ecology then we give it a fighting chance of working."

and

"One of the things I learned early on was that, even though it felt counter intuitive it was better to wait an hour or so before doing anything. Almost invariably things started to sort themselves out and not seem as bad as they had in the beginning and even if I did have to intervene I could do so on the basis of more information and calmer reflection."

From Johnnie Moore

"...1 If you look that entire content of this blog, you'll get some notion of how I conduct myself. It varies a bit.

2 You'll also see how visitors conduct themselves. It, too, seems to vary.

3 The past is not necessarily a guide to the future.

Frankly, I find this too long and detailed so I don't think I'll bother. Especially, as I'm sure that potentially "disruptive" elements will have have even less interest than I do in idealised prescriptions for behaviour." (My response in his comments)

David Weinberger

Tim joins many in pointing to the BlogHer Community Guidelines. Count me in. I'm adding them to my comment form this morning. I'll probably work on some minor personalizations over the next few days...

Actually, I think it is worth pulling a bit from my comment on Johnnie's blog:

"...I agree, a bloggers code of conduct is not the way for most of us. It may be really useful to some who need that framework. Just don't legislate me!

What helps me is a bit of reflection and transparency. Your three bits work for me not because they are any kind of rules, but because they captured something about you. They could give me a sense if I were new to your blog, even before I read the blog for a long time.

Chris Locke shares his persona on his blog pretty clearly. So I use that context to interpret his actions. That doesn't mean I have to like nor agree with his participation in a blog that appeared to be about belittling other people. But he didn't hide behind anything about it. I did not agree with his initial response personally, but I believed it. I was deeply heartened to read he and Kathy have talked.

There are other responses on blogs where I really can't get a context of the person. I let those float past me if I can. (Sometimes I can't. What can I say. Just a human being. Anger is part of me.)

In life I have had a range of friends, and as I think about why I treasure each one of them, it is because they are genuine in who they are. Some are very different from me, with values and lifestyles I do not want to embrace. But they are genuine in that lifestyle. More, they are aware and reflective about it. They live their context.

One blog post is rarely enough context. Many of us are not blogging as journalism with the exposition of who, what, when, where and why. So when we can capture and share a bit of our context, I think it can be useful. Few blog posts are read with a long term knowledge of the blogger...

First, the term 'code of conduct' conjures too many negative things for me. So please, someone come up with a range of options for that name. Ugh. We don't all have to do the same thing, or call it the same thing. Our diversity is still one of the biggest pluses. I'm not advocating for one set of rules, nor labels. And certainly I'm not advocating legislation. No, no, no.

(OK, slight interruption. Just took a call from a group wanting me to join the Republican Business Leaders Coalition or something like that. Second time they called me. Last time I told them, "I'm not a Republican." They said they wanted a diversity of voices. I said, I think you want donations, no? They said no but I was never asked my opinion about anything until I get the same pitch today. Hm, something about context again, eh? In any case, the man who called was very good at the end about disclosing the website, number, sponsor, etc. It was too fast to catch. I said thanks for the context. Next time, start with it!)

I'm looking for a set of heuristics that help me make sense of others' writing. I'm looking for context.

I can't and won't read every person's blog on a regular basis. But I will read many blogs. If something takes me aback, a link that gives me context about the writer, the purpose of the blog (or it's self aware non-purpose!) will help me read the post in a way that just might be closer to the way it was intended by the writer. Then I can choose my response.

In our "fast, furious, flying by" world, we read too fast. We interpret too fast. Reflection is a luxury for vacations and long airplane rides. I think this destroys context.

Context is central to how we make sense of the world. It is that hard-to-express thing that describes fuzzy concepts such as community, understanding, friendship, hate. By posting our personal codes, heuristics, "about us" or WHATEVER, we add a little bit of context to this fast-flying world. Online and offline. And that requires us to slow down a moment and reflect on ourselves. It is not about getting lost in mountains of meta conversations. Just being a bit more self aware.

For me to be self aware, I need my friends to help me see myself as others see me. I need others to be reflective with me. That requires conversation. Interaction. Sometimes in public (like here in my blog) and sometimes in private (like a phone conversation that I hear happened between Kathy Sierra and Chris Locke, thanks to friends they have in common. Ah, again, FRIENDS.)

So, in thinking out loud with you here in my blog (thanks to those who kept reading through this rambling) three things surface:

• context
• self awareness/reflection
• friends

Maybe that's it.

Keeping with my intent to use more visual work, this little web book may say it all. A collection of pictures and short messages about being a neighbor. Mr. Rogers is still one of my heroes, even if I don't want to be just like him. I thought of him as I "read" the book.

Background: Some folks writing about bloggers codes of conduct

• Cyberjournalist - In the context of journalism, a code of conduct makes a lot of sense. The question then to bloggers is, do you see yourself as a journalist? Does it matter to you? Should you share that with your readers?
• Tim o'Reilly's initial offering
• Blogher's Community Guidelines - Blogher's guidelines are part of a bounded community, with a "buck stops here" leadership team of three. I see it as quite different from the blogosphere. Again, a different context. This is related to, but not the same as community terms of services, user agreements etc. But worth seeing in that context.
• Tailrank's collection of posts about codes of conduct. Let's see how this evolves over the next week. (added after first posting)
  

I'll add more as I have time to fish them up.