A Suggested Protocol for Blog Communication
There have been many articles written on blogger etiquette (see here, here, here, and here) from the perspective of the business and hobby of blogging. True, blogging can be fun and profitable, but this is not the power of the format. Blogging sequences in time a global distributed exchange of information such that quality information can bubble up from the distributed community. While blog authors tend to be talented and articulate, in the end they only represent a small fraction of the intelligence of the system. At least 99% of the intelligence of the blogosphere resides in the readers. Ultimately, it is expected that the future of the blogging format will be focused in aggregating, filtering, and disseminating this latent potential.Given this motivation as well as the problems and potential of the format, the following is proposed as a first draft request for comments on a blogging protocol:
1. Blogs are as individual as the authors and readers. There should be no limits on the display of content beyond the requirements of national laws, community norms of decency, and technology.
2. Blogs function as sources or aggregators of information. Those that function as aggregators such as Basil’s Blog, Daily Kos, or Instapundit, should present a clear user interface that specifies the sourcing and content of the information processed by the blog. This can be specified on a “Contact” page linked to the main page. Blogs that solicit e-mail should adopt an e-mail management regime that is transparent to the sender. As a minimum, if e-mail is not regularly answered, the blog should provide a policy statement on e-mail acknowledgement.
3. Comments allow blog authors and readers to correspond publicly in the context of a topic within the post cycle time of the blog. Authors that allow commenting should have the expectation that they will be available to respond to pertinent author-directed comments during the front page life of the post unless otherwise noted by the author. Commenters should limit themselves to the stream of discussion established or at least to the topic of the post. The role of the author is as a host to a party. The role of the commenter is to be a respectful guest.
4. Trackbacks enable linking blogs to notify the author and readers of a source of a citation. Trackbacked sites and posts should conform to the source blog’s sourcing policy. Unless specifically allowed by the site owner, trackbacks should never be posted to a site sans a linked citation to that post on the tracking author’s blog.
5. Blogrolls are semi-permanent lists of links to other blogs or sources. These lists are often used by readers to explore the blogosphere for sites associated to the hosting site. Blogrolls that are used by the hosting site for other purposes should be annotated as such. Blogroll links should be periodically checked for accuracy and functionality.
===================================================
Linked to: Basil's Blog: Supper 7/2/2005
posted by deignan @ 12:01 PM
<< Home