Morpho Designs

Hijacking Blogs - Urban Renewal Project

Public Announcement

I did some thinking about blog etiquette after reading GracePub’s post on Communati.com:

Should Bloggers Let Other Bloggers Hijack Their Blogs?

In my usual allegory fashion, I left the following comment:

Blog software is a city in the land of Blogosphere.
The webmaster is the mayor.
Akismet is the chief of police.
Your blog is your home.
Blog terrorists and comment spammers are a bit like the criminal element.

Ultimately, city planners need to improve developments, the mayor needs to pour more resources into the city and not rely solely on the police force.
You, dear blogger, have the right to defend your home against vile intruders.
Depending on your politics, either they should be given a chance to reform - through education - or they should be rounded up and shot (blacklisted, censored, and banned).

Support Your Local Sheriff

I spent a year doing technical support for WritingUp.com, a community blogging site. I moderated and adjudicated countless acts of uncivil disobedience. I cleaned up behind the spam filter elephants. I even proposed some of the guidelines governing the use of the website.

My experience has taught me that miscreants will always slither among the lawful citizens of a community. It is the collective responsibility of all vested partners to control the damage wrought by social misfits and digital disruptors (spam bots).

Community Action

Charity begins in the home. So does security. Bloggers should do as much as possible to control access to their content. Moderating comments is only the beginning.

Consider the idea of a comment policy. Learn about the link attribute nofollow at Randa Clay Design. Decide if it makes sense for your blog.

Join discussions about the SEO implications of comment control. Gracepub’s post is a great place to start.

Civil Service

Plug-ins, volunteer moderators, paid support staff. These pillars of the community can mean the difference between a vibrant vacation spot and a blighted blog-sore. However, if you’re not careful, the power vested in these workers can transform your town into a totalitarian state.

Censorship sucks. Absolute censorship sucks royally. Tread lightly.

Help for Hizzoner

If your blog is part of a community website, you don’t get to elect a new mayor. If you’re not happy, hitch your blog to the pickup and mosey on down the highway.

If you are the mayor, learn everything you can about administering your site. Hire good plug-ins, keep abreast of developments and plan a few parades to keep your constituents happy. (The mayor of Communati.com is very good about keeping us happy.)

City Planners

WordPress.org is one example of a really well-planned developers’ organization. Make sure your blog software has a solid foundation! This is especially important if you have your own blog on your own domain.

Good city planners have an open-door policy that allows third-party developers to participate in the city-building process. There is also an excellent peer-review system in place to monitor progress. The developers’ forums, version tracking, bug reporting and technical support on a blog software site are almost more important than the software itself!

Comprehensive Plan

Discovering, educating, debating.
Selling, promoting, condemning.
Communicating ideas, fostering conversation, telling stories.

To whatever use we put our blogs, our goal is to make it easy for publisher and reader alike to enjoy all that we have to offer.