My take on the recent blogging code of conduct.

1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
   No problem. I try everything I can to stop comment spam. That shit pisses me off, way more than any of you.

2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
   Abuse Tolerance Level: 3

3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
   This appears flawed. Anyone can give themselves any name on the internet. Hell for all you know My name might not really be Steven Roy. It could be Jack Thompson, or Steven Jackson. Just because you make somebody give you a name does not mean it's their name.

4. Ignore the trolls.
   Ask anybody who knows me can tell you, some times I like arguments. Hell way back in the day I used to frequent a Flame War newsgroup. But that got boring eventually.

5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
   I thought part of the point of the internet was that so people could communicate in ways other than the telephone. I have to admit, unless the visitor in question already has my phone number, generally I don't want to talk to them on the phone.

6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so
   When I'm in a Flame War I usually try not to tell them things about themselves. Instead it's more fun to set them up to realize it themselves. It often works better, because you don't publicly embarrass them, only privately, so they don't feel the need to retaliate any more. Always remember, you win when your opponent quits.

7. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.
   Well technically your not saying anything online unless it's a net cast. Your writing things online. But don't worry it's a common mistake.

Some... well actually lots of people on the net, get news and info from individual independent blogs. Some of those bloggers think they should get full access to media events, just like other educated and accredited journalists.

Recently Slashdot had two stories that I think give some good incite as to why bloggers aren't trusted as journalists. One is a blogger ranting about another blogger's rant about not being treated like a Journalist. The second is about the defending of the Payola business model being used in blogging. Specifically PayPerPost.com.

Could it be that bloggers aren't taken very seriously as journalists, because they have no rules and are are freely able to sell their opinions? Or is it that they can be a bunch of whiners, who bicker about minutia, with delusions of grandeur?