One of the new rules of the new society (when everyone is a publisher)
By Tom Foremski - November 28, 2005
By Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher
What is socially acceptable to blog about? That's one of the questions I have pondered when everyone can be a publisher, and when most in my social circle are publishers/bloggers.
And the answer is simple: if you are at a private event, among your friends, then everything is off-the-record you do not publish anything that could embarrass anybody, or republish anything that was said/done unless you have an agreement to do otherwise.
That has to become one of the new rules of our new society: Everything in a social setting is off the record unless agreed otherwise.
Because if a person wanted to broadcast to the world, then they themselves would publish it to the world. For example, if I say something to three people, I only wanted to say it to those three people, not the world.
The exception is a press/promotional/public event or announcement. Otherwise, in social situations, everything said is off the record unless otherwise agreed.
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November 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comment | Category: new rules | Subscribe to SVW
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Comments (4)
Maybe I am missing something.
Don't novelists, dramatists, even actors... all artists use real experiences, real situations (and people) to draw characters and tell stories?
I tell stories, parables, anecdotes to help me explain my thinking and convey a point. If you talk to me you are likely to become part of my stories. Anything you say to me may not be strictly on the record but it's grist. Are you saying that's wrong?
Posted: November 29, 2005 12:04 PM
That will be a tough one to enforce, especially if you are networking and are at a more business/social setting. Someone may say something at a party and it may come to you again several days later. You may not consciously be looking to report on a social event, but if a comment is in your head, and you think it is relevant for whatever reason, you may be inclined to blog about it, not realizing where you first heard it. (I’m saying that is a risk… I’m not saying I would do that….)
Posted: November 29, 2005 4:07 PM
Response to Lawrence
I think what you are looking at is the difference between fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, the names are changed to protect both the wicked and the innocent. Yes, breaches of confidentiality sometimes happen -- speak to any relative of a well-known novelist -- but the veil of make-believe in fiction tells the reader that she should not accept what she is reading as fact.
Posted: November 30, 2005 11:37 PM
Tom>
An alternative could be to give people met in a social setting the possibility to Opt-Out from your blog, say within 24 hours … (for blog publisher inspired by the Google [Print] Book Search project!)
Posted: December 2, 2005 7:45 PM