Phil Gomes made an interesting point in his “blogservations” yesterday, noting that Tim O’Reilly’s proposed blogger code of conduct will only govern those who already behave in a mature and civil manner online.
Any sort of voluntary regulation, therefore, will do nothing to prohibit or prevent the truly ill-intentioned among us from behaving badly. I doubt a blogosphere code of conduct could have prevented the heinous threats against Kathy Sierra, for example, because those behind the threats would never agree to such a code.
Which brings us back to Phil’s point. He rightly argues that those inclined to sign up for or support an online code of conduct for users of social media are not going to be the bad apples making threats.
Without an official body dictating actual enforceable rules of online engagement, the blogosphere is left to its own devices. Most of us play fair, some of us don’t. Of the bad apples who make personal attacks or leave sarcastic anonymous comments, how many actually escalate the situation to violent threats?
I am queasy of any kind of regulation of online speech (outside of death threats, which are already illegal), voluntary or not. The live web is a spectacular resource for anything you could want to learn about or discover, and a spectacular platform for anything you want to share with the world and discuss.
Anything that could potentially discourage the use of that platform seems to contradict the spirit of the online conversation. And isn’t that why we’re all here?
Technorati tags: Kathy Sierra, Phil Gomes, Tim O’Reilly
In recent months, it seems that more celebrities than ever have been tripping over their tongues. One would think that this far into the 21st century—a time when discrimination on any basis is shunned—people would “know better” than to crack wise about issues as sensitive as religion, sexual orientation, and race.
Some would say that those with hatred in their hearts aren’t always going to be able to control their impulses, regardless of the presence of cameras or microphones. I don’t think it’s always that simple, but this post isn’t about the intentions or prejudices of the offending parties.
I have no doubt that public figures have been putting their feet in their mouths for as long as language has existed, but the trappings of the modern era have made things far worse for the celebrity prone to faux pas.
Ten years ago, Michael Richards’ racist rants in a comedy club may have made the news, but would the media frenzy have lasted quite as long in a time when cell phone cameras, blogs and YouTube did not exist?
The same applies to Rush Limbaugh. His insensitive remarks last year regarding Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease may have caused a flap ten years ago, but without the accompanying YouTube video depicting Limbaugh flailing about in imitation of Fox’s disease, the PR storm may not have lasted quite as long.
How the storm surrounding Don Imus will play out has yet to be determined. I echo Todd Van Hoosear’s sentiments that it will take Imus a long time to recover from the hit to his reputation, if he can recover at all. But I wonder how the 90-second news cycle, the blogosphere, YouTube, late-night comedy spoofs, and millions of chattering social media voices will affect that amount of time.
Something tells me that in the era of social media, Imus’ two-week suspension won’t be long enough for this story to die down.
Technorati tags: Don Imus, YouTube, Michael Richards, Rush Limbaugh
PRSA Boston has announced its seventh annual scholarship grant available for students studying communications. The $2,000 grant will be awarded this summer to a Boston-area college or graduate student.
For all interested in more information, Mark McClennan posted the scholarship’s details on the PRSA Boston blog.
Good luck to all applicants!
Sell! Sell! Sell! – Those words were the mantra of Jesse Devitte, my EVP in a previous life. That was back in the day when CRM was in its infancy and if you knew anything about your customer you would use it to get a leg up on the competition. Well, fast forward 20 years, and things haven’t changed much. The more you know about your customer, the better your chances are of getting the sale.
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Phil Gomes made an interesting point in his “blogservations” yesterday, noting that Tim O’Reilly’s proposed blogger code of conduct will only govern those who already behave in a mature and civil manner online.
