My take on the FTC guidelines for bloggers
is over at the Guardian's Comment is Free section:
Read the rest over at Comment is Free.
Gotta say that it's crazy and interesting how the conversation is so focused on me calling myself a mommy blogger. Hmmm...I feel like when I do that it's always an experiment to see how fast the respect level drops and how quickly the shit flies. I wonder how the comments would be if I had called myself a book blogger instead? Or a feminist blogger? But since the media is focusing on mommy bloggers when discussing the FTC, I wanted to put that label in first. Aw, language, how I love you.
I'm a mommy blogger. For the past six months or so that was akin to saying I was a used car saleswoman. No, it had nothing to do with the stereotype that all I write about is my daughter, how cute she is and what we did that day. It had to do with the pile of freebies that I apparently live under and the idea that I lie about them.
They call it blogola – payola for bloggers – the term for free stuff that bloggers get to review on their site and even the cash that some accept for those reviews. Those "offers" can also take place on micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, as exemplified by the recent controversy surrounding the #nestlefamily event – in which bloggers have agreed to take part in a promotional event organised by the multinational company. After months of warning us, the US Federal Trade Commission addressed the situation.
Read the rest over at Comment is Free.
Gotta say that it's crazy and interesting how the conversation is so focused on me calling myself a mommy blogger. Hmmm...I feel like when I do that it's always an experiment to see how fast the respect level drops and how quickly the shit flies. I wonder how the comments would be if I had called myself a book blogger instead? Or a feminist blogger? But since the media is focusing on mommy bloggers when discussing the FTC, I wanted to put that label in first. Aw, language, how I love you.
