comments Written By: Scott Jangro
April 10, 2007

DON’T BE AN IDIOT (DBAI)

There is lots of hullabaloo going around about Tim O’Reilly’s “Blogger’s Code of Conduct“.

I understand where he’s coming from, and it’s an admirable effort.

But, a “code of conduct”? How about just some common sense.
Blog owners just need to take responsibility for the content that’s on their blogs, and if they see fit, delete stuff.

Censorship? Nah, it’s my blog, I publish what I want.

I will say, Tim’s badge is pretty damn hokey. C’mon Tim, you do want to be taken seriously, don’t you?

bcclogo.gif

Keith Bond has sought to fill gaping hole left by this code of conduct in the form of a badge for the rest of the blogs out there. Makes sense. Warn people that they may be offended if they continue reading.

anythinggoes2.jpg

If you really want to send a message to your commenters, here’s one for you.

It covers everything from being an ass, to spamming, to link dropping. In fact it carries over into real-life as well. You can’t go wrong with this one. Feel free to use it on your own blog:

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12 Comments... What do you think?


  1. Jim Kukral said on April 10th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    I like it!

  2. Shawn Collins said on April 11th, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    Tim should have posted that one on 4/1, instead of 3/31.

    Then he could have backtracked and said it was a joke.

  3. James Omdahl said on April 11th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

    Awesome.

    Reminds me of when I was in college and worked as a day camp counselor. I was in charge of a group of 10 kids, and on the first day of camp I told them that in my group, there would be only one rule - DON’T BE STUPID.

    It worked like a charm, the kids understood it, and when they did do something bad, they quickly realized which rule they broke.

    I’m not saying that bloggers are like kids…actually, I might be, but either way I think the “Don’t Be an Idiot” thing has a lot better chance of making working than a “code of conduct.”

  4. Bani pe net said on April 13th, 2007 at 8:53 am

    Nice idea and banner. I think I’ll put it up in the next few days.

  5. Joshua said on April 13th, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    I was always under the impression that when you turned on your web browser you were entering the ‘anything goes’ zone…

  6. Scott said on April 13th, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    A great assumption Joshua!

  7. Brown Baron said on April 14th, 2007 at 10:28 am

    This is one badge I like. A catch-all straight to the point motto.

  8. Timberland said on April 15th, 2007 at 9:12 am

    nice idea, the black image is great!

  9. Faimous said on August 9th, 2007 at 12:05 am

    I do think the last one is the funniest… lol

  10. Don’t Be An Idiot | David Paul Robinson said on April 13th, 2007 at 7:29 am

    [...] Posted April 13th, 2007 @ 7:23 am by David Paul Robinson Scott Jangro has a much better alternative to Tim O’Reilly’s soporific Bloggers Code of Conduct. Use this motto in life and in your blog. [...]

  11. Up Your Ego - » Don’t be an idiot said on April 13th, 2007 at 2:00 pm

    [...] Forget the stupid ‘Code of Conduct’ and much worse ‘Civility Enforced’ nonsense put forward by Tim O’Reilly - Jangro has a much better idea - a badge that basically says Don’t be an Idiot. [...]

  12. Don’t Be an Idiot, part two | Jangro - Affiliate Marketing, SEO, etc. Heavy on the etc. said on April 13th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    [...] Following on the idea of our suggested alternative banner, we’ve put together a quick resource site: Don’tBeAnIdiot.org. Have a look. [...]

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