DON’T BE AN IDIOT (DBAI)

by Scott Jangro on 10 April 2007

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.

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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:

  • Joshua
    I was always under the impression that when you turned on your web browser you were entering the 'anything goes' zone...
  • Nice idea and banner. I think I'll put it up in the next few days.
  • 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.”
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