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I’ve been noticing a number of threads of discussions on the subject of blogging etiquette and some quite heated debates going on online.

Online networking is just like offline networking in that a conversation can start with one group of people and then it takes a life of it’s own and potentially you can end up being misrepresented in what you said originally.

I’ve a simple rule of thumb about managing my digital footprint - I don’t say anything online that I would not be willing to stand by if someone spoke to me in person. 

In fact online we are probably able to be heard by more people in one conversation online due to the number of subscribers to our blog or newsletter (or another persons blog or membership site if we are posting comments there) than we would ever engage with in a conversation.

Our online conversation is live for the world to see months if not years after we begain the conversation – it’s challenging to manage our digital footprint and while there are now companies setting up to “manage our digital dirt”, connecting with webmasters to “clean up/delete/amend” our online misdemeanours, personally I think it’s frankly impossible to go back and become whiter than snow online if we do say something that we later regret.

A realtime voice to voice, offline conversation can develop legs of it’s own but it’s likely to peter out over time – the online conversation can be potentially there for all time.

So here are a few resources you might be interested in taking a look at if this subject is of interest to you:

• Tom Peters has recently posted on his blog about loving your enemies – in essence he recommends that we don’t bad mouth our competition – take a look at the comments as there are some useful perspectives listed by his readers
• Charlene Li wrote a post some time back in 2004 with a sample blogging code of ethics
• General Motors GMFastLane blog have adapted Charlene’s code of ethics for their blog
• I have a a note on my blog about guidance about blog comments - infact I’ll probably go back and update it now I’ve come across Charlene Li’s post.

Blogging it a truly fantastic platfform to express your point of view and expertise online for our clients and potential clients to easily access - consider it publishing at the speed of sound so to speak – or as my friend, blogger and author Andy Wibbels, describes it as immediate global self expression.

But especially if you are a business blogger, it’s important to apply the same business etiquette as you would offline to your online communication.  Remember building a strong brand means we need to nuture all the touchpoints of our brand and that includes how we “show up” in online and offline conversations.