Already in November 2005 the spanisch blogging community created a blogger manifest at the Evento Blog España event. I found a german translation at Dreibein, copied it to here and added an english translation.

Manifest

The blogger as citizen

  1. If Gutenberg would rise again today he would write a blog software.
  2. Blogs are changing the way we are communicatiing worldwide. Nothing is like it was before. Todays citizens are not only recipients. They have the power to distribute their own thoughts, if he wants so.
  3. People may and want inform others. The monopoly of the unidirectional media providers has come to an end.
  4. Weblogs will not replace traditional media, but they will force them to change.
  5. Slowly but steadily the public gets aware of the relevance of blogs. Peaople are beginning to be aware of their power, accept it and use it.
  6. Write about whatever you want: About your life or about the world. Anything is useful. Nothing prevents your internet existence; but only those interested will read it.
  7. Be curious. Break with well accepted truths. Doubt anything. Recombine information to gain another point of view to reality. There is no absolute blogging truth.
  8. Protect your anonymity if necessary to avoid social or governemental censorship.
  9. Protect and promote your virtual identity even if it is not related to your real identity in any way.
  10. Be honest when blogging. Show respect to law (even if you may critizise it) and develop your own ethics respecting this.
  11. Bloggers prefere the free exchange of knowledge, free of charge.
  12. Joind networks, but don't let them "swallow" you. Your power, and the power of all, is in the bundling of many individuals. Do intensely communicate with the net community, but don't let anyone enforce you.
  13. Bloggers are part of networks and promote them. Do respect free speec, privacy and the way of life of everyone. Take a stand against any attempt to limit the free exchange of information and personal feelings.
  14. Bloggers are free. They practice free speech by using their own or other blogs. They respect the opinions of theis commentors as well as the opinions of bloggers they comment to.
  15. Be a blogger - even beyond the internet. Do not limit yourself to one topic only.
  16. Don't let your ideas and thoughts be closed away in your mind and your tongue bound. Express yourself by writing.
  17. Publish your ideas, suggestions and opinions. Hear, write and comment about others.together we all form a shared knowledge with many opportunities and possibilities. Anyone may take advantage of it in his own way.
  18. The ideas your share through your blog are more important than the concept of your blog.
  19. Be predictable. Use common sense, ethic criterion and respect. Don't tell a person things you would not tell her face to face.
  20. Accept critics to become a better citizen, human or blogger. All these three should be kept related. It is more likely a bragger comes to fall than a paralyzed (trans. note: spanisch saying). It is more likely to blow a lyings bloggers cover than of someone not blogging at all.
  21. Link, link, link.
  22. Do respect opinions. Data too. Improvidence is not good. Think about what you're saying. Do have a sense of duty when it comes to take responsibility about what you're saying.
  23. Information is enriched by comments. Your readers have a right to think about your ideas and to comment them. Always publish your sources.

The blogger in the blogosphere

  1. The blogospere is a living beeing, a biological network. It has inherently no limits and will never have limits. The blogosphere is built by communities getting more versatile as time is passing.
  2. Weblogs form communities promoting our basic understanding of democracy, especially if a blogger preserves his autonomy, does not subdue to command hierarchies and only accredit those keeping their adequacy from their point of view.
  3. The blogosphere is the big change in the internet and commonly named Web 2.0.
  4. The dialogue is the most important element of the blogosphere. Without dialogue neither the blogoshpere nore the web does not make any sense.
  5. Build communities. Extend the idea of blogs and the blogosphere. Build minorities without any pretension of beeing a majority but still beeing representative. Link and expand the blogosphere.
  6. Do plead for a flat horizontal blogosphere. Nobody is hierarchically above any other in the blogosphere. Feel free to communicate with "the mighty", be happy to communicate with the new ones. The whole world listens to you, the whole world is communication with you.

The organisation, commerce and blogs

  1. Individuals, business companies and social groups now have a tool enabling them to percieve and beeing percieved.
  2. It is now the responsibility of these players to open themselves and share their knowledge, feelings and ideals.
  3. Perceptivity is not only a matter of money. An efective blog sooner or later will build a community of readers. Not more, not less.
  4. The essence of a blog is creating knowledge by combining distributed pieces of knowledge and adding a personal point of view acting as a glue.
  5. Feel free not to advertise on your blog. Or do advertise if you want to earn money and have a chance to do so. Both options are acceptable as long as it is done transparently and openly. It is not that important, what you are doing, but how you are doing it.
  6. Making money is not paramount, but a collateral consequence of passionate blogging. Money is not necessarily tied to proprietorship. Bloggers prefere the free and open access to goods.
  7. Institutions and business companies are beginning to be aware of the threads as well as the opportunities of blogs, of their own blogs as well as of other blogs, internal as well as external. Do expect a booming evolution here.
  8. Companies, politics and education do have to open themselves more to the blogosphere. After several years of existence they still did not recognize the writings on the wall.
  9. listen to the opinions coming up in the blogosphere. Sometimes they are talking about your organisation and your products. Don't unterestimate them. Don't try to shut them off. Learn from them.
  10. Many citizens asking for your service are thus able to publish their critics to thousands of other people.
  11. If your product is good, the blogosphere will even improve it. The direct consumer recommendation is authentic and crucial.
  12. Making business in the blogosphere has it's own rules. Communicate and respect the judgement of the people finding you in the net.
  13. Commerce and politics may recognize the opinions and requirements of their audience in a much better way. It is the new form to use the public knowledge to point out your own strengths.
  14. Technology and software you are using is of no importance, as long as it makes your blogging easier.

Epilogue

  1. Have fun!
  2. As already the Beatles said: All you need is blog!