Two discussions are taking place that, if taken together, illustrate the struggle to not only create something, such as a blog, product, website, etc., but to create it with “right thinking”.

The first topic is The Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging. The question is about discipline and integrity, if you read between the lines. How can a blogger prevent bringing on the wrath of someone they’ve written about or whose content they’ve tapped into? What makes a “good” blog? What are the actual rules of this game? How do I not screw this up?

The next topic gets into the heart of the matter. Will Discipline Rob Away Creativity?. Can you be inspired and express it within certain confines? Are we so bound to keyword performance that our content is just obnoxious?

As if this weren’t enough thinking for one day, my friend Diane Vigil raises issue with “nofollow” tags. She writes, in Not posting at nofollow blogs,

For some time I’ve had a personal policy about avoiding posting at blogs that use the nofollow tag.

I never liked the idea of nofollow because it’s used in conjunction with a practice we hold so dear - links. Nofollow basically says, “This link is worth doggie poop.” (”And, since I put it here, my site’s not worthy either.”) That’s not always true. I like to link because the page I’m linking to did something that impressed me. I’m thanking them.

So, did the discipline of nofollow take away creativity, and even spontaneity? Am I going to start ripping the nofollow code from my comments? (Um yes. Just as soon as I figure out how!)

Do we add this “don’t nofollow, do nofollow” to the long list of Do’s and Don’t’s for Blogging list?

Sorta makes you want to go back to reading books and black telephones, doesn’t it?