That a piece about blogging made the front page of the Times is no big shock. Managing editor Jill Abramson is all about Web 2.0, didn't you hear? But a closer look at the copy reveals the article is about blogging ethics, a phenomenon akin to unicorns and Star Jones' weight loss: something you hear much about but never see.

Here's the gist of it all: "Web 2.0" term coiner Tim O’Reilly is teaming up with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to come up with blogging ethics, to be voluntarily adhered to and policed by bloggers who promise to abide by them. It's all an effort to cut down on "truthiness." Or create more of it. We're confused.

Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Wales talk about creating several sets of guidelines for conduct and seals of approval represented by logos. For example, anonymous writing might be acceptable in one set; in another, it would be discouraged. Under a third set of guidelines, bloggers would pledge to get a second source for any gossip or breaking news they write about.

Bloggers could then pick a set of principles and post the corresponding badge on their page, to indicate to readers what kind of behavior and dialogue they will engage in and tolerate. The whole system would be voluntary, relying on the community to police itself.

The whole system would also have the glaring error and embarrassment level of Wikipedia. And at the end of the day, around here that's all we strive for.