Web Manners
When was the last time you went to a meeting where grown people lashed out at each other, screaming rude names and making nasty, unfounded accusations about each other’s personal lives?
We hope never. But even if you have been in a situation like this, it probably doesn’t happen very often (and if it does, might we suggest finding a new crowd?). For the most part, when adults mingle with their peers – be it in an office, a party or a PTA meeting – the vast majority behave themselves. We believe this is because the vast majority of people are basically nice, but even those who aren’t so nice – or who simply feel very angry with someone in the room – usually manage to contain their bile. That’s because chewing someone out publicly has a very negative effect. Even if all the mean things you say are true, you’re branding yourself a jerk. It’s bad for business, bad for your social life – it’s just plain bad.
Unfortunately, the rude and the boorish don’t suffer the same penalties on the internet. Because the web enables users to speak anonymously, many people are saying things online that they would never say in the non–virtual world. And their words aren’t just mean – sometimes they are downright threatening. The New York Times reports that blogger Kathy Sierra was recently bombarded with invectives – including death threats and maliciously doctored photos – from visitors to her site. Sierra was so distraught that she canceled a public appearance and is considering giving up blogging entirely.
Sierra is not alone. Many other bloggers – women in particular – have said that the stress of dealing with such hate speech has made them opt out of the public forum.
That’s why we were delighted to learn that two of our fellow bloggers are creating a voluntary code of conduct for the web. The Times reports that bloggers Tim O’Reilly and Jimmy Wales, the creators of Web 2.0 and Wikipedia respectively, hope to raise the level of discourse on the internet by encouraging bloggers to agree to some fundamental guidelines – namely, that they will not publish visitor comments that are threatening or slanderous. Bloggers can also opt to forbid anonymous comments on their site.
Hopefully, the vast majority of nice bloggers and web users will be able to band together and make the net a kinder, saner place for everyone.
So three cheers Tim and Jimmy! And sign us up.