THANK YOU and WELCOME!

I want to thank all of you who have been stopping and sharing your thoughts, especially Eric Muller and Thomas Beckett who have posted announcements about this study on their sites: IsThatLegal and Smart Mobs. I would also like to thank Paul Jones, the professor who opened my eyes to the virtual communities. The "contributors" list in the sidebar is comprised of the blogs belonging to those who have shared their beliefs about blog ethics either by publicly commenting on the five questions below or by e-mailing me directly.

As for those visiting for the first time, I hope you will take a few moments and share your thoughts about blogging ethics. Below are five questions. I invite you post your answers as a public comment or to email me at mgkuhn@email.unc.edu. I will be posting my completed paper on this blog in January so you can publicly comment on my findings.

FYI: If you would like to read two codes of Blogging Ethics I would recommend A Bloggers' Code of Ethics proposed by Johnathan Dube at CyberJournalist.net, and the six standards of weblog ethics proposed by Rebecca Blood in her 2002 book, the weblog handbook.

1. RAWLS and Your Blog

Who are the "stakeholders" with regard to your blog? Who will be affected by what you post?

2. ROSSIAN Blogs

Philosopher W.D Ross discusses prima facie duties, duties that were not absolute but that had to be negotiated with respect to one another. When making decisions about your blog, do any of the following values or duties cross your mind? If so, which? Can you rank them?

Transparency
Accountability
Minimizing Harm to Others
Free Expression
Factual Truth
Etiquette

Are there any values/duties you feel should be weighed in a discussion of Blogging?

3. KANT and blogs

Are there certain duties ALL bloggers should fulfill... all the time... in order to be "good" bloggers?

Are there certain things bloggers should NEVER do?

4. The Function of Blogs in Society

On a societal level, what role do blogs play?

5. Your Purpose in Blogging

Why did you decide to start a weblog? What did you want your blog to accomplish? Have you achieved that purpose yet?