Many questions have come up recently related to ethics and blogging. Here are couple of simple survey questions to
take everyone's temperature.
Survey: Should bloggers post a blog disclosure statement?
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I disagree--most blogs are just people who post information or opinions (or both). Forcing them to adhere to some sort of code of ethics would be holding them to a higher standard than the public holds the mainstream press. Doing so would also encroach upon each blogger's freedom of speech. I'm all for a voluntary program but "caveat emptor" (sp?) is the American Way. Talk about what you want to talk about regardless of why you want to talk about it. It's up to us to question everyone and trust no one. Besides, does anyone think an ethics code won't get violated?
Just my 2 Yen, of course...
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by ThePete
3. "Should bloggers accept money to blog about a product if they disclose they are being paid? (like that Canadian company Marc Canter works for)"
None of the above: Yes. I'll take such a post with a grain of salt, but it won't affect my opinion of unpaid posts.
4. where's the survey?
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by peter caputa
5. I'm not sure how a blog disclosure statement would read, but I've done considerable work in the e-health arena and recognize some of the problems inherent in gaining consensus on the language and content of statements governing ethics and quality. For example, starting out with the excellent outline on Cyberjournalist.net (http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php), I estimate it would take at least five years to gain consensus on a Bloggers' Code of Ethics, especially now that blogging and business are merging.
That said, if a group of bloggers representing various sectors of the blogosphere wants to start working on a simplified, workable ethics code, I would be glad to participate. My approach would be one that I advocate for health and other sensitive sites: "nutritional labeling." In other words, we collectively should be able to devise a template that quickly shows what the blogger has committed to in several key areas of ethics and quality.
Regards,
Lois
Lois C. Ambash, PhD
President and Chief Infomaven
Metaforix Incorporated
www.metaforix.com (website)
www.metaforix.info (Metaforix@ blog)
www.surveymonkey.com/infoyou (Take our InfoYou information overload survey!)
6. Every type of money relationship has to be revealed IMHO. I've been wrinting on this subject at http://www.SiliconValleyWatcher.com. One of my suggestions is color coding people or companies, within the entry, to designate the relationship. Green equals a moneylink (an advertizer or sponsor or consulting client, etc), brown equals a buddy/crony/family, red equals who I'm sleeping with ;-) anyway you get the picture. If you don't reveal relationships as much as possible, you will lose trust. And, as we all know, it's all about trust--Brand Building 101.
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Tom Foremski
7. I disagree--most blogs are just people who post information or opinions (or both). Forcing them to adhere to some sort of code of ethics would be holding them to a higher standard than the public holds the mainstream press. Doing so would also encroach upon each blogger's freedom of speech. I'm all for a voluntary program but "caveat emptor" (sp?) is the American Way. Talk about what you want to talk about regardless of why you want to talk about it. It's up to us to question everyone and trust no one. Besides, does anyone think an ethics code won't get violated?
Just my 2 Yen, of course...
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by ThePete
8. "Should bloggers accept money to blog about a product if they disclose they are being paid? (like that Canadian company Marc Canter works for)"
None of the above: Yes. I'll take such a post with a grain of salt, but it won't affect my opinion of unpaid posts.
9. where's the survey?
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by peter caputa
10. I'm not sure how a blog disclosure statement would read, but I've done considerable work in the e-health arena and recognize some of the problems inherent in gaining consensus on the language and content of statements governing ethics and quality. For example, starting out with the excellent outline on Cyberjournalist.net (http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php), I estimate it would take at least five years to gain consensus on a Bloggers' Code of Ethics, especially now that blogging and business are merging.
That said, if a group of bloggers representing various sectors of the blogosphere wants to start working on a simplified, workable ethics code, I would be glad to participate. My approach would be one that I advocate for health and other sensitive sites: "nutritional labeling." In other words, we collectively should be able to devise a template that quickly shows what the blogger has committed to in several key areas of ethics and quality.
Regards,
Lois
Lois C. Ambash, PhD
President and Chief Infomaven
Metaforix Incorporated
www.metaforix.com (website)
www.metaforix.info (Metaforix@ blog)
www.surveymonkey.com/infoyou (Take our InfoYou information overload survey!)
1. Every type of money relationship has to be revealed IMHO. I've been wrinting on this subject at http://www.SiliconValleyWatcher.com. One of my suggestions is color coding people or companies, within the entry, to designate the relationship. Green equals a moneylink (an advertizer or sponsor or consulting client, etc), brown equals a buddy/crony/family, red equals who I'm sleeping with ;-) anyway you get the picture. If you don't reveal relationships as much as possible, you will lose trust. And, as we all know, it's all about trust--Brand Building 101.
Posted at 4:21AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Tom Foremski