About being a good blogging citizen

I keep a blog because it is a good way to share information and be part of a community. At times I post information to soliticit feedback and help people solve problems that I have encountered. For example, I have a post about forcing a postback using asp.net http://weblogs.asp.net/mnolton/archive/2003/06/04/8260.aspx. It has been found on google and a lot of information is shared. Whether every comment is valuable is not really the point. The point is sharing information. The vast majority of people are good citizens and share information.

I also own a Kiosk Framework that is now deployed across the country with one of the largest cable providers in the US. It enables their customers to handle millions of dollars in transactions a year and it links up nicely with their underlying billing systems using web services. Occassionally I post about what I have learned (not trade secrets) and others having similar situations post comments. If you find the information helpful, great. I am truly glad it helped. However, sometimes people read a comment and tell a person to drop them an email to discuss it away from the blog. Or they come and take their questions off line away from the blog. This is not the point. If people post questions to the blog, then answer on the blog. Do not take it off-line. If you have personal interests that you are trying to protect, then do not post a comment and do not take it off-line and don't try to solicit information if you aren't willing to share it yourself. If I see it happen, I will delete the comment. I keep my blog to share information because I find it a valuable source of information and I want to contribute. So be a good blogging citizen.

-Mathew Nolton