Why O'Reilly's idea is better in theory than in practice

This past week Tim O'Reilly kicked up a veritable fire storm when he proposed that bloggers of the world should unite and adopt guidelines for self regulation. Judging by the comments and commentary on this particular article I believe that the idea of a "blogger treaty" is about as likely as the ratification of an EU constitution.

The problem is not that the blogosphere is unwilling to moderate civility and respect, but that most of it's denizens don't want it. For as long as I've used the electronic medium to trade thoughts and ideas I've repeatedly encountered folks who use it's relative anonymity to espouse their vitriolic arguments and agendas. Online communities have tried to deal with these malcontents using various schemes over the years, some with more success than others. Usenet, chat rooms, message boards and now blog sites have become the battle ground for folks to hide their identity while mouthing off things they wouldn't dare say in person.

Unfortunate as it might be, the ability to engage in such behavior is exactly what draws many to the forum to start with. I would wager that if this ability is taken away the phenomenon of the blogsphere would wither as folks would be afraid to share their ideas lest they be outted to "the man".

For the most part I believe that website and blog owners need to be accountable for the things they publish, at least in the context of their site. However attempting to censor public responses in a public forum is in ill taste especially if the response in question is one that you disagree with. Though an effort should be made to cut down on erroneous or off topic replies, for the most part all controversies and responses should be left to stand on their own. To do otherwise is to belittle your reader and to assume that he or she is not smart enough to read and draw their own conclusions.

While I respect Tim's attempt to establish guidelines for fair and honest blogging, as well as realize that this is a work in progress, the managerial task of drafting and forming consensus about how we all feel is a mammoth undertaking. At the very least I believe that all site owners should adopt their own policy and reference it as they would an About Us or Privacy Policy page. I believe it is the only reasonable way we can put ideas like these into practice at this time.