BlogHer - Blogher Founders Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins, and Lisa Stone Bring Order to the Chaos - Comments

Brilliant essay by David Weinberger:

Lisa Stone — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:49:12 -0500

Code? Nah. Codes? Maybe.

Brilliant essay by the author of The Cluetrain Manifesto.

Begs for audio, doesn't it?

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Thanks G!

Lisa Stone — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:18:01 -0500

and you might be interested in this one:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&...

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Thanks Lisa

gingajoy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:44:37 -0500

Thanks for pointing me to that thread, Lisa. I missed it before. Fascinating discussion. And fat kudos to all of you. Yes, you got a bit edited, but BlogHer came across extremely well in spite of it.

Preserving heterogeneity/free speech for all, banning hate here

Lisa Stone — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:52:03 -0500

You all make terrific points. Here are my favorites:

Marianne:

There is not just one blogosphere...there are many. Some bloggers crossover into other blogospheres and move betwen them; some do not. There are some things that are considered basics: transparency, authenticity, and honesty but the blogosphere "self corrects"

Gingajoy:

The fact of the matter is that the blogosphere is made up of many smaller communities of practice, each defining itself and its norms in very different ways. And these communities--according to their own often implicit and intuited rules--are policing themselves very effectively. This concept of the blogosphere is perhaps no longer useful in these types of debates because it removes the diverse range of contexts in which we are all blogging and interacting.

I so agree. As I mentioned yesterday, NYT reporter Brad Stone's piece didn't include my opinion that I don't think a one-size-fits-all code of conduct will work for all sites and all blogs. BlogHer's guidelines are, as you both described, custom-made for this environment -- where we want women to be able to discuss and disagree and debate on everything without being subjected to hate speech. Or copyright infringement. Or libel. Or plagiarism.

Marianne, it's very helpful to read your additional thinking on the subject - the Web is a work in progress and I'm sure (actually, I hope) we'll never be done. Thank you so much for these comments.

And Dana, I'm so glad the guidelines work for you. :)

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Could not agree more...

gingajoy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:54:03 -0500

I completely agree, and would add further that any notion that "The Blogosphere" or even a female blogosphere as some sort of homegeneous community which requires sweeping rules of conduct is entirely wrongheaded. The fact of the matter is that the blogosphere is made up of many smaller communities of practice, each defining itself and its norms in very different ways. And these communities--according to their own often implicit and intuited rules--are policing themselves very effectively. This concept of the blogosphere is perhaps no longer useful in these types of debates because it removes the diverse range of contexts in which we are all blogging and interacting.

Hooray to Elisa, Jory and

Dana J. Tuszke — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:03:18 -0500

Hooray to Elisa, Jory and Lisa!! You are women who lead by example and I'm honored to be a part of the BlogHer community!!

Dana from The Dana Files.

Blogher Founders Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins, and Lisa Stone Bring Order to the Chaos

Marianne Richmond — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:57:28 -0500

"Any community that does not make it clear what they are doing, why they are doing it and who is welcome to join the conversation is at risk of finding it difficult to help guide the conversation later" Lisa Stone in todays New York Times.

In the midst of the Kathy Sierra dust-up (I have yet to find my own word for exactly what "it" was) finger pointing, and calls for guidelines there were several fingers being pointed to the fact that despite the outward appearances of the moment, some thought has been given to the subject of acceptable and unacceptable blog conversation.

Although, some sought to tar Blogher with the brush of responsibility, Lisa Stone wrote a powerful response to the issue of cyberstalking which included excerpts from the Blogher Community Guidelines.

The New York Times article asks the questions: "Is it too late to bring civility to ther Web?" They note that Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia are in the process of creating guidelines for conduct and civil behavior online.

I will state that I find a certain irony to the fact that in my observation, the rules of what is defined as acceptable engagement offline, and on the air keep becoming less and less civil...

As Tim O'Reilly said in the NYT article, "Free Speech is enhanced by civility"; perhaps we should add online and offline....but not to digress.

The Blogher guidelines demonstrate that a community can set its own standards of acceptable behavior....and likewise on one's own blog, you can state your own definition of civility, abide by it with your own example, and not tolerate exceptions. You can also decide who you are going to link to, put on your blogroll or otherwise hang out with....usually people that fit your definition of civility.

I am not sure that translates to the blogoshere at large and I think the blog buttons for good behavior, what Jeff Jarvis calls Twinkie badges are just that....not really much of anything.

Like Rex Hammock.....and I love his visual I am all for civility BUT I woud prefer to set my own defintition. I agree with Jeff Jarvis, we don't need to be lectured.

There is not just one blogosphere...there are many. Some bloggers crossover into other blogospheres and move betwen them; some do not. There are some things that are considered basics: transparency, authenticity, and honesty but the blogosphere "self corrects" If there was such a thing as a universal bloger code of ethics, how would it be enforced and by whom....can you be kicked out of the blogosphere for being "uncivil?"

Idil Cakim states that trust is a central issue of the blogosphere and goes on to say that a code of conduct badge would become a kind of Better Business Bureau endorsement for the trustworthiness of the site. I would agree that trust is a central issue but don't really see the dots that connect the badge to trust.

Now, the death threats and harassment...different can or worms and that should be "policed". And communities should look at Blogher's example of how to set guidelines . We should set them in some manner, either by example or by statements on our own blogs.

But the trolls and stalkers live outside of the world of civility....the New York Times seems to imply that the blogosphere is an uncivil, nasty place that needs a written code of conduct. I beg to differ.

The blogosphere is inhabited by the same people that inhabit planet earth...those who live within the rules and those that live outside. The chaos of the past several weeks was not brought about by lack of codes of conduct but by those who live outside of codes stalking those who live within...and then the sound of a thousand fingers pointing, "He/She went thataway."

Kudos to Elisa, Jory, and Lisa for building a community from the foundation up and for providing thoughtful voices and examples in the midst of who did it and ran.

Technorati Tags: Elisa Camahort, Jory DesJardins, Lisa Stone, Blogher, New york Times, Tim O'Reilly, Rex Hammock, Jeff Jarvis, Jimmy Wales, Kathy Sierra, Toby Bloomberg, Media 2.0