For a little while now since the Kathy Sierra incident, the blogosphere has been kicking around the notion of a blogger’s code of conduct. Frankly when I first heard the idea I was gobsmacked that people who make their living/popularity from free speech and all things anarchical should even toy with such an idea. I’ve been watching comments from people and gauging reactions. Luckily enough Damien Mulley was kind enough to provide a summary of people’s comments on his weblog, surrounding this issue (see link below). While it is highly regrettable, what happened to Kathy, the blogosphere cannot uphold a code of conduct. It would perish under the regime of dotted i’s and crossed t’s – the new sheriff in town. People read what they want, that is the beauty of the interweb. People write what they want, that is the legacy of user-generated content and web 2.0. Preventing the twain from meeting is just not going to happen nor should it be policed. If somebody harasses you on the street then you decide on the course of action depending on whether or not it is on-going. If somebody issues a death threat then you do the same and report it, never does an entire city stage a sit-in protest because somebody was assaulted on the main street. I’m not belittling the awful effect that this has had on Kathy nor am I saying that the comments she received were in any way condonable. All I’m saying is that the blogosphere cannot fall under a form of marshall law nor would it ever function as a police state. Some of the best bloggers I know would be no more for the things that they write , when taken in the wrong context or twisted to be something it is not. source: Damien Mulley