Blog Exercises: The Don’ts of Blogging

Did you know there is a Blogger’s Code of Conduct? It’s on Wikipedia.

Initiated by Tim O’Reilly, it is as follows:

Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
Don’t feed the trolls.
Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person.

It was created in response to a rash of malicious and personal attacks against several “famous” bloggers.

We are surrounded by “don’ts” in our world, even in blogging, but do you really know all of them? This is a good start but let’s look at some other don’ts in blogging in these Blog Exercises.

Don’t Infringe

Trademarks and copyrights are protected by law internationally, but that doesn’t stop people from abusing them, consciously or ignorantly. How many sites are there with Apple, Windows, Android, and other trademarks in their name? What about WordPress? Did you know you cannot use WordPress in your domain name? It violates their trademark, which is why there is a proliferation of sites with WP in their domain name.

In “What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content,” one of the most popular articles on this site, I explain in great depth the basics of what you need to know and do about copyright. I also highly recommend visiting Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today to learn even more.

The article begins with the statement that dealing with copyright is not a matter of if but when. Every day, whether you know it or not, whether you think it only happens to professional or popular bloggers or sites, your copyrights are being violated. Google has been repeatedly persecuted for copyright violations, and the non-profit, Internet Archive, has also been sued for copyright infringement. They store copies of all the websites they can get in the world to preserve them. The only things saving both of these companies is apathy towards copyright, the belief no one can do anything to stop it, and the thought that this action is for the benefit of all.

Jonathan and I came up with the Ask First campaign. I came up with a variety of simple badges to put on your sites to encourage potential copyright thieves to ask first as I might say yes to the use of my copyrighted content. It was successful in getting people to acknowledge there is fear in asking permission to use content, but it’s better to ask first than pay the price later for copyright infringement, so ask first.

Know The Rules of the Sandbox

Liz Strauss calls these the rules of the sandbox. If you are going to play in it, everyone needs to know the rules. The web is a big sandbox. There are many rules.

Every company has a terms of service, their rules of their sandbox such as the WordPress.com Terms of Service. So should every blogger and web publisher. We’ll get more into blog policies, so start with understanding the policies, terms of service, and limits set by your web host, publishing system, city, county, state, and country, as well as those you do business with through your blog.

Laws on blogging are evolving, and not always with freedom of speech and expression as a foundation. The laws are often buried in double-talk and confusing legaleeze. I’ve included resources to help you understand many of these below. It’s a new world for expression, and freedom of speech on the web is threatened daily.

Not long after the word “blog” came into the lexicon, the conservatives and worry-warts started attacking. By 2005, many companies and governments banned blogs in the workplace for a variety of reasons. Some said they were time wasters, watching employees blog or read blogs on company time. Others said they threatened the sanctity of the workplace with porn and inappropriate content. Some countries like China, Turkey, and even Brazil, banned and censored WordPress.com and other blogging sites and services.

In 2005, the Delaware Supreme Court the US First Amendment to include blog comments. This hasn’t been adopted nationwide though blog comments are generally accepted under freedom of speech, lifting the liability of the site owner/blogger from responsibility for the comments.

In 2006, the United States House of Representatives started a bill to give Internet publishers the same freedoms and rights attributed to newspapers and magazines. I couldn’t find the bill to see if it passed into law, but this is one of many attempts to protect the rights of bloggers.

In 2011, the UK and some US states passed laws requiring full disclosure on social media sites as well as blogs for those sharing on the web for compensation. The UK laws also included rules and regulations on parody blogs, restricting their activity to “truth in advertising.”

Just a year ago, protests and blackouts in protest of SOPA and PIPA in the United States rattled the blogosphere as we fought against limiting our web publishing rights. We tend to have short-term attention-spans when it comes to the issue of protecting our rights. Luckily, there are bloggers taking time to remind you that you have rights worth protecting and defending. The Electronic Frontier Foundation works daily to report and protect those rights.

As I wrote this, 17 bloggers in Vietnam are on trial for “attending workshops on digital security; writing and linking to blog posts that are critical of the Communism Vietnamese government; calling for peaceful protests and political pluralism; and association with the Vietnam Reform Party (Viet Tan).” If found guilty, they face sentences from five years to capital punishment. With the introduction of new censorship laws in Vietnam last year, the government has cracked down on dissidents including bloggers. Dozens have been imprisoned. The mother of one blogger killed herself by setting herself on fire to protest her daughter’s detention for spreading anti-state propaganda.

Yes. This is happening today. Now.

While blogs are now an accepted part of society, invaluable to some, there are still companies and governments threatened by them. There are laws in place that protect and harm bloggers, but you must know the law as it applies to you in your corner of the web publishing world. You also need to know the risks if you break those laws. Some laws are worth breaking.

Personal, Moral, and Ethical Don’ts

Blog Exercise Task from Lorelle on WordPress. Your blog exercise today is to list your blogging don’ts. Your list may include the above items, but it goes beyond those to your own rules of your sandbox.

Will you allow swearing and cussing on your site? In the content? In the comments?

What type of comments will you allow? I’m not talking about spam. I’m asking you to consider what makes for an acceptable comment on your site, and how do you know the difference? We’ll be exercising on comments later in this series.

What filter do you put your content through before you publish it? Do you consider defamation? Libel?

What will you or won’t you publish?

What makes you put on the brakes before you publish? Some bloggers don’t have filters. If you do, what are they? What are your limits that you will not allow yourself to cross, and what limits do you set for interactivity?

What are your don’ts?

List them in the comments or publish a post on your site about your thoughts on your don’ts. Include a hat tip link back to this post to be included in the trackbacks.

Resources

I’ve written much about blogger’s rights and the do’s and don’t’s of blogging, as have many. Here are some resources to help you understand more about the do-not-do of blogging.

NOTE: The persecution of 17 bloggers in Vietnam is just the tip of the iceberg of government forces cracking down on bloggers and freedom of speech around the world. While blogs and social media helped to fuel the right of self-determination in the Middle East recently, our silence and lack of support for bloggers worldwide hurts me – and it hurts you in the long run. If we let one country get away with it, we encourage our own country to get away with it. Please take a moment to send your thoughts or your blog and social media posts out to support those who suffer and pay the price for having their say. They need to know they are not alone. At the very least, send a few dollars to the Electronic Frontier Foundation or similar organizations fighting for the rights and lives of bloggers to help them continue their good work.

You can find more Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress. This is a year-long challenge to help you flex your blogging muscles.