Blogger Ethics

Nearing the end of our blogging saga, I felt compelled to read over the weblog marking sheet. After reading the critera; Demonstrates an awareness of the role of reflection in critical thinking and ethical communication practice.

I was slighlty confused as to what exactly 'demonstrating an awareness of the role of reflection in ethical communication practices' actually meant. This lead me to thinking, what about ethical blogging? A responsible blogger should recognize that what they are publishing is being made public, thus they are constrained by certain ethical obligations to their readers, the people they write about, and society in general (for more on this click here).

After googling the term 'ethical blogging' I came across a sample bloggers code of ethics.

Bloggers Code of Ethics

1. I will tell the truth.
2. I will write deliberately and with accuracy.
3. I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.
4. I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing.
5. I will never delete a post.
6. I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic.
7. I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.
8. I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking.
9. I will stay on topic.
10. I will disagree with other opinions respectfully.
11. I will link to online references and original source materials directly.
12. I will disclose conflicts of interest.
13. I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.

So there you go, it's all pretty straight foward although I'm sure there's much more to say on the issue thats all I have time for today. However click here for a brief and interesting analysis of this code of ethics by a blogger called Elliot Black.