A new direction: dialague about respecting privacy
Greetings! It’s been a while since we've posted, but we’re back with some exciting news.
We’ve been a little silent on our blog in the past because we’ve been thinking about the balance between sharing experiences and asking questions with respecting the autonomy of those who we may be talking about. We started our blog with a naive interest in sharing family stories. We quickly learned that to tell these stories meant telling on family members who might not always appreciate being talked about.
To help us reflect on this ethical itch, we attended the BlogHer12 conference in NYC earlier this month. While it was immensely interesting and informative, it did not help us to resolve or find a resolution.
Some speakers were carefully picking their way along the high road like Deb Rox, when she spoke about her commitment to guiding "the blogosphere into respect" at a session called "Blogging the Fine Line between your Identity and the Issues". Other speakers like theredneckmommy seem to celebrate blogging as the freedom to say anything about anybody.
Is our concern old fashioned? As long as communities have been coming together, the question of how we get along together has been of concern. One person’s gossip — even slander — can be another person’s freedom of expression.
Are respecting the privacy of others and having a sense of discretion associated with self expression on new media sites? Our question might be old fashioned but they strike us as eternally central to building safe and respectful communities.
So, we’d like to welcome you to engage in this dialogue with us, as we continue to reflect and post about respect and privacy — what another panel referred to as "keeping things private in a public, digital world".
In the next few months we will be making our blog more open and visible to others as a public forum. We hope you will join us.
We’ve been a little silent on our blog in the past because we’ve been thinking about the balance between sharing experiences and asking questions with respecting the autonomy of those who we may be talking about. We started our blog with a naive interest in sharing family stories. We quickly learned that to tell these stories meant telling on family members who might not always appreciate being talked about.
To help us reflect on this ethical itch, we attended the BlogHer12 conference in NYC earlier this month. While it was immensely interesting and informative, it did not help us to resolve or find a resolution.
Some speakers were carefully picking their way along the high road like Deb Rox, when she spoke about her commitment to guiding "the blogosphere into respect" at a session called "Blogging the Fine Line between your Identity and the Issues". Other speakers like theredneckmommy seem to celebrate blogging as the freedom to say anything about anybody.
Is our concern old fashioned? As long as communities have been coming together, the question of how we get along together has been of concern. One person’s gossip — even slander — can be another person’s freedom of expression.
Are respecting the privacy of others and having a sense of discretion associated with self expression on new media sites? Our question might be old fashioned but they strike us as eternally central to building safe and respectful communities.
So, we’d like to welcome you to engage in this dialogue with us, as we continue to reflect and post about respect and privacy — what another panel referred to as "keeping things private in a public, digital world".
In the next few months we will be making our blog more open and visible to others as a public forum. We hope you will join us.
Comments
Post a Comment