I agree with the post. If someone is acting like a jerk, no one will read his blog anyway. But that only applies if the blog is written for an audience. Blogs that are written as personal journals should just be left alone and if people find something offensive, they could just leave and not read it.

“Your freedom to swing your hand ends where my nose begins.”

For one, that. The code. Journalists have a code they follow. Whether mainstream media follows that code or not is up for discussion (I don’t really equate journalism to mainstream media since MSM, is polluted by capitalism and politics). But would that constitute the failure of journalism? I think not. A lot of journalists still follow the code. And that also gets them shot and killed by fascist governments. :p

Blogging is a medium. It’s the way the blogger engages people that’d define him/her as a journalist or not. We’ve all had our fair share of reading trash posts filled with poorly researched, riding on buzz and meme, or purely opinionated discourses.

While I’m not saying that blogs are substandard wells of information (for a good chunk provides just the opposite), The majority of the whole blogosphere in general is still just personal and opinionated discourse that fall way short as good editorials.

As for the code, regulation (whether by self or with an enforcing body) entails a set of rules.

When we were started connecting to the Internet in 1994 (yes, I was first before Migs Paras! hehehe), educating people about proper netiquette is a must. Why can’t we have something concrete, something written for bloggers/readers, right?

Again, just like professional organizations’ code of conduct, if you don’t like what they use, then don’t subscribe.

Why do you think that most online fora and/or bulletin boards require you to register before you can comment? Owners/moderators are doing something correctly – why can’t the bloggers do the same? Have some set of code to act as reference.

Again, this is not to say that ALL bloggers are required to follow – it is OPTIONAL but it is a start.

And oh, guidelines? IMHO, it is the same. :p Who will enforce the guidelines? What happens if someone does not follow your guidelines?

We should instead come up with guidelines that will remind all bloggers to behave themselves.

I think there should be a common and widely accepted code among bloggers. Otherwise, the freedom that we have will be prone to abuse. We have in our disposal such a powerful tool, thus, proper use is only expected.

Common sense, as has been said, is not too common. The thing is – what or who dictates Common Sense? Is it written somewhere? What is Common Sense to some may not be to others.