On page 165 Ed Shull speaks about the both interesting and controversial phenomenon of paying for blog entries. At least in Sweden it has caused some controversy where bloggers have been paid for the content on their blogs and not let their readers know of it.
A common opinion seems to be that as long as the blogger tells the readers that he or she gets paid for making the post, it’s ok. One could argue that the paying company ends up only with basic information as in a regular advertisement, but the real value is probably in the buzz that may be created through the blogger voicing his or her opinion on the matter the discussion among the blog’s users that is initiated.
Shull has an interesting solution to the ethical aspect of paying for content, not caring about what opinion the blogger voices, as long as it is an opinion – or at least he says so. The practice kind of works in theory. However, we don’t really know what the mentioned requirements really are and the relationship with the paying company will obviously taint the blogger with either conscious or subconscious bias.
To me, this method is ethically okay, though as a reader I would prefer if the blogger committed to informing the readers whenever there is money or any other return involved in the content. Also, I will always be suspicious of companies paying for content, whether they pay for opinions or just mentions. The line is too thin, and there are too many shadows and opportunities for foul play.
I think that the consumer perspective is that a company with a truly strong product would rely on the product, and not enter into questionable marketing efforts. Because of that, if I ran a company I would never touch the paying for content business, since I believe a mistake there can blow up in your face and really damage your brand, but that doesn’t mean that I think of the actual method as unethical.
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4 comments:
I agree with you fully on this Filip. I think that the reason people like to read bloggs is that the person writing often has a passion about the subject, and that is the reason he/she writes. This makes for very interesting and often very informative reading. So when a blogger starts makeing too much money doing what he/she does (whats regarded as too much i don't know, i guess its individual), the reader may easily start to question if the blogger is still writing out of pasion for the subbject or simply as a means to make money. Most people are not as interested if the reason is the latter one.
I don't know how ads on blog effet to readers. Of course if there are to much ads then it would bother me. But a few ads are OK to me. And even writer gets money from advertiser,it doesn't really matter whether contents are good. I think adverisers are not stupid. They are always calculate for the benefit. If a blog becomes useless, then they will cancel the ads. So for writer,he or she should update blog which contains good article or information to keep their profit from advertiser.
Bloggers and social media should establish ethics among themselves. For now, at least, transparent disclosure is important, meaning, if a blogger get any kind of sponsor from a company, they should disclose them so that visitors can know that facts.
I agree with Filip on this one, if I ran a company I wouldn't pay for blog mentions like this either. If I as a reader find out a company was paying for mentions, I think I would seriously doubt the quality of their product, seeing that the product should be able to speak for itself. This can only be damaging for the brand image.
Also the problem that you don't know for sure what exactly it is companies are paying for. I mean they could be putting words in the mouth of the bloggers, not leaving any room for personal opinions. I would prefer it if this type of marketing didn't exist.
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