Study of Blogger's Ethical Beliefs and Practices Published in New Media & Society

A study of 1224 bloggers' ethical beliefs and practices was just published in New Media & Society. This incredibly insightful and well written piece clearly lays out the methodology and findings. The study found that "personal bloggers valued attribution most, followed by minimizing harm, truth-telling and accountability respectively. Non-personal bloggers valued both attribution and truth-telling most, followed by minimizing harm, then accountability. For both groups, attribution was most valued, and accountability least valued." (p. 586). Attribution mattered most for the bloggers. (Supporting my study findings as well). Based on their research, the authors crafted ethical guidelines for bloggers, based on what the 1224 bloggers thought was important. In their piece, they also site Clancy Ratliff's "Attracting Readers: Sex and Audience in the Blogosphere."

http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/blogs/ratliff_01.htm