In military or police operations, the rules of engagement (ROE) determine when, where, and how force shall be used (source).
I recently saw a post on an institution’s Facebook page that was somewhat critical of the nature and frequency of the institution’s posts. While not particularly inflammatory, the fan’s criticism was certain to elicit a reaction from the keepers of the page, and I wondered if they would respond publicly, privately, or not at all.
This got me thinking about the online “rules of engagement.” Unless we are associated with an organization that defines those for us, we must determine when, where, and how to publish online content (and react to content published by others).
A couple of years ago, Tim O’Reilly issued a Call for a Blogger’s Code of Conduct and, based on subsequent discussion with other emerging technology leaders, described what that code might look like. From the article:
- Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
- Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
- Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
- Ignore the trolls.
- Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
The Blogger’s Code of Conduct Wiki suggests some additional guidelines. The guidelines are divided into ten modules:
- Responsibility for our own words
- Nothing we wouldn’t say in person
- Connect privately first
- Take action against attacks
- a) No anonymous comments OR b) No pseudonymous comments
- Ignore the trolls
- Encourage enforcement of terms of service
- Keep our sources private
- Discretion to delete comments
- Do no harm
- Think twice – post once
As this blog is associated with my professional portfolio, I’m not likely to a) say anything inflammatory (interesting?) enough to elicit negative comments or b) approve those comments for publishing. I have found it necessary to develop my own personal rules of engagement, though. I have participated in online forums and groups for several years and, as anyone who has spent enough time in any online community will tell you, the opportunity to engage is ever-present; it’s one of the reasons I enjoy these communities so much. In my online dealings, I try to abide by the newspaper rule: “never say anything you wouldn’t want to end up on the front page of the newspaper.” I also try to “think twice- post once” as suggested above, but am not always successful at stepping away when someone is wrong on the internet.
xkcd webcomic "Duty Calls" (click to enlarge)
What are your online rules of engagement? Tell me in the comments below.
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