I agree with you on the fundamentals and agree with fellow commentators that this post was well written.

As a preface, I want to say I think Chris Brogan did nothing wrong and all I could ask of him is to disclose what is permissible. But that is part of the social contract he has made of his own volition.

@Tom I agree that the larger the and more diverse the community the better equipped it is to guide us where there is no rule book. The concept is basic statistics. The more participants, the better the representation of what is “socially acceptable” will be.
My issues with this idea are as follows 1)what makes social media different is that it is completely opt-in (a lot like FOX News or MSNBC) the audience tends to reflect the speaker (and vice-versa). Many blogs speak to a certain type of person and caters to a certain ideology, whether it be professional, spiritual or philosophical. So the audience of a blog may never be as broad as a daily newspaper. I think this may also be an issue in respect to the online-community’s holding bloggers accountable. If the specific publication is more narrow there will never be a balancing factor because it will be outside the scope of different-minded readers
2)I don’t think you, Shannon, were arguing for a cohesive, group-think type of ethical standard. I think you are saying that if everyone individually thinks of the community they should make the best decision possible, more of a global-community idea.

@Beverly I am also concerned as to whether the general public is prepared to make the transition and as social media is growing and easily navigated trying to bridge the gap is important.

In order to feel betrayed an individual must feel a contract has been breached, stated or otherwise.

I’m curious as to your opinion of a social contract for bloggers. Traditional journalists have a social contract to cover “news” objectively. PR practitioners’ contract asks for ethics above all else, by being honest and honoring their understood agreements with not only their employer but also the publics that they communicate with.

If every blogger makes their own ethical decisions without openly explaining the contract they will be honoring can anyone in an audience evaluate their trustworthiness?

If there is no “blanket” I feel their MUST be some pre-stated standard that by subscribing or reading you agree to holding that blogger to their own standards.

Without rules their can be no order. I feel many people can wax-poetic about individual standards, but cannot live in the context. Community-driven ideals are beautiful but we are human and everyone does not have the same moral compass or the ability to live, what you or I, may considered a virtuous life. Its why we have government institutions, sometimes they fail, but they are typically better than if we were without.

I hope didn’t repeat anyone else’s thoughts.

Thanks! Reading you is always a pleasure :0)

Although Social Media – i.e. the human – can be viewed as ‘pure’ and without filters, it still comes down to the human.
This means pure bias, pure alternate motives, and pure emotion – all can easily stray from fact.

However realize a simple but strong fact: we are in the embryonic stage of social media.
The more we ‘re-learn’ our new communication forums and forget the rules of the past, the more accountable social media will become.

Being a former journalist, I’ve always looked at accountability as a cornerstone of communications. Accountability from those you ‘cover’, and self-accountability in the story you are delivery. It’s a rule many are unwilling to let go (at least the naturally-skeptical journalistic/critic types).

So where is the accountability in Social Media?
Here’s the good part: as the number of people join and learn how to use our new form of communication, the accountability will come from the collective group (an ever-growing number).

Person A says they hate something, but persons B through Z say otherwise…who are you to believe?
@Melanie put it well in reminding us about the personal choice we have in believing what we choose to. As time goes on, the growth in Social Media will allow us to make better (possibly more informed) decisions.

I’m still slightly skeptical…but I’m more than willing to give it some time.

Shannon, thanks for making me think. You’ve got another follower.

@TvTo

That said, I applaud your holistic website experience.

Aren’t you a little young for such perspicacious wisdom? ;-)

Seriously – I love what you wrote, and how you wrote it. We get too easily caught up in the “how” and “wherefore” of business and especially (I think) business communications. It’s high time we started remembering the “why” – and the answer, at least for me, is people and relationships. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to – that’s why something works (or doesn’t). Bravo for reminding us of that.

@shonali