Integrity in the Blogosphere
This year has been tough for parent bloggers amid talk in the media and elsewhere about pay-per-post practices, “Blogola” and other questionable relationships between bloggers and marketers – behavior that represents only a small portion of bloggers. There also has been much discussion about the new Federal Trade Commission guidelines, which in the media have been unfairly targeted at parent bloggers.
After weeks of discussion about the negativity surrounding the parent blogging industry, four bloggers decided to take a stand and defend what once was regarded as a group of great writers with respectable things to say. Susan Getgood of Marketing Roadmaps, Liz Gumbinner of Mom-101, Kristen Chase of Motherhood Uncensored and Julie Marsh of The Mom Slant came to the conclusion that the issue that needed attention was integrity. This led to the creation of the Blog With Integrity pledge on July 22.
“The Blog With Integrity pledge was created to provide bloggers with a tangible and collective way to express our commitment to a simple code of blogging conduct,” the Web site reads.
The pledge emphasizes the importance of the clear disclosure of interests so that readers can accurately evaluate what is written. It stresses respect and taking responsibility for words and actions.
Said Julie, “Let’s remind ourselves what we’re doing here and what our community is doing. There have been changes in the community and we want it back the way it was. We want to regain that community trust we had.”
Liz agreed that the industry has changed. She said bloggers today feel like they need to use a disclaimer when a disclaimer isn’t always necessary. Motives are questioned whenever bloggers mention a product or a brand they like, she said. “It takes away from the freedom of blogging and that will destroy blogging.”
In a recent post, Kristen wrote:
“With all the FTC and the blackouts and brownouts and everything else that sounds oddly close to people having [@#!] issues, I’ve felt the need to disclose that the things I talk about (unless otherwise specified) are not paid for. That when I link to a product, I really do like it. And if I don’t like it, then I make fun of it and drink out of it.
And honestly, I think that sucks.
Susan Getgood
It sucks that you can’t go to a blog and know automatically whether the person is legitimately loving something or whether they got paid to love it.”
Susan pointed out that there isn’t one right way to blog and that having a sponsor or writing a product review is a legitimate business. She said bloggers just have to be clear about the relationships they have. “By and large, most people want to disclose their relationships,” but some don’t know how, she said. These principles serve as a guide for those who are still learning, and they engage the bloggers and the marketers as well.
“We are defining the policies. We really should understand them,” she said.
The Blog With Integrity initiative offers the opportunity to sign a pledge and get a badge. It is a simple process and there are no rules. It isn’t limited to parent bloggers either.
“That was very important to us – that it transcends through all types of bloggers,” Julie said.
“Blog integrity goes across every segment,” Susan said. She noted that the pledge is open to those who don’t write a blog as well. “Some people don’t have a blog, but they believe in the principles.” They are welcome to sign the pledge, too, she said.
Liz Gumbinner
After just five days the Blog With Integrity pledge received 250 signatures. “We haven’t promoted it that heavily yet,” Susan said. “That many people signing the pledge, to me, says we hit the right note.”
In addition to the blogging community, the public-relations industry also has been enthusiastic about the initiative, Liz and Julie noted.
There’s been some negative feedback. “Some say it’s sad it has come to this and it is,” Liz said. “It is sad to have to attest to something you’re already doing, but we’ve been put in this position and we want to defend our community.”
“There’s been some concern like, do we need a badge to have integrity?” Susan noted. “No, but this lets you affirm your commitment to those principles.”
The women have done interviews with a few organizations and they also spoke about the initiative at the BlogHer conference in Chicago recently. They plan to follow up with media outlets that wrote stories attacking the industry to let them know about the positive side.
“We want everyone to feel good about what they’re doing again,” Liz said.
Post by Jessica Braun
 |
Jessica Braun spent 11 years in the news industry, working at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal for 10 of them. She recently made a shift from journalism to marketing but wants to keep one foot in the journalism door because she enjoys writing. She's also a mom of two little ones who keep her busier than she ever could have possibly imagined. Jessica can be reached at Jessica.Braun@momswhoblog.com. |
