Why the Accusatory Attitude Toward Mom Bloggers?
Last night I read an article from BNet.com, Abbott Pays Bloggers For Positive Reviews of Its Similac App. When it came up in my Google alerts I was honestly scared to click over.
Then I read the fist sentence of the article:
Abbott Labs (ABT) compensated a bunch of mommy bloggers…
and I pretty much knew where this writer was going.
Once I read over the article I gleaned two things from Jim Edwards’ piece:
1) Mom bloggers wrote disclosed sponsored content on their blogs through their partnership with Collective Bias.
and
2) The writer believes mom bloggers are “emerging as a dark pit of conflicts, corporate interests, and bogus personal journalism“.
Now, before this devolves into a conversation about breastfeeding and Similac (because I’m not even going there!) I want to explore how journalists and other bloggers who are not moms view mom bloggers. I think this is an extremely relevant topic as we move forward and as our community grows. I want to discuss big picture here.
It seems from this article and from consistent remarks around the blogosphere that mom bloggers represent all that is bad in blogging because we are in bed (so to speak) with brands and marketers. Yes, we work with many brands, but who doesn’t? I believe there is a general assumption that we can’t think for ourselves, we’re sell outs, we’ll do anything for money, we are self-serving, we’re unethical by mixing reviews and content with various monetization methods and on top of that we neglect our families. Of course, all of these stereotypes are untrue, but they seem to be the general consensus among those who do not fully understand our community or the evolving blogosphere for that matter.
A lot of harsh criticism — most of it undue – comes down on mom bloggers’ shoulders when blogging business models emerge and shift notably because mom bloggers, I’ve learned, are really the movers and shakers in the blogosphere. In a lot of ways mom bloggers are innovators when monetizing their blogs and working with brands which makes some people a little twitchy. While Edwards saw the sponsored Similac content as a breach of ethics, we see it as an everyday occurrence. Sponsored content lives and thrives in the blogging community. That’s a fact and there’s no turning back from it.
The primary point I am making is that when mom bloggers monetize their blogs and run sponsored content that is not in violation of FTC guidelines there is obviously something wrong with that according to some. However, I’m pretty sure sponsored content flourishes in other blogging communities but somehow it gets a pass.
Is there something wrong with this picture, or am I imagining all of this? Is it because we’re women? What do you think people’s expectations are of moms and why do you think they get disappointed when they see sponsored content on mom blogs? Also, do mom bloggers have a greater responsibility to only write non-compensated reviews?
Discuss.
*Note: The conversation continues on What Do You Think About Sponsored Posts? Yay or Nay?
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you go girl ! its about time us mum bloggers stood up for ourselves.
Wonderful article Jennifer. Thank you for standing up for every moms in our community. I’ve always thought that women have surpassed the “second-class citizen” tags above our head a century ago but apparently, some people still have biases against women, particularly mothers. Both men and women bloggers write reviews for different reasons, both monetize blogs, both make money from the internet. Why the lambasting centering on women, particularly mothers only? A lot of mom bloggers started blogging as a passion and if in the process, we learned how to get paid for doing something out of our passion, what is wrong with that? The important thing is when you are writing a review, you are honest about your opinion, positive or negative. That’s why it is a review and not a praise or a press release. How sure is that writer those momblogges are not telling the truth when they review?
this is not true, i have seen bad reviews! exhibit A)
http://1caseycolette.blogspot.com/2011/02/shutterfly-25-free-valentines-day-photo.html#comments
I run a few blogs, one a family blog. It took about 100 posts, but I quickly learned the type of content I wanted to write, who I wanted to write it for and the price at which I would do it.
My blogs are not that big yet, because I have spent most of the past two years developing a writing portfolio on freelance sites. The freelance sites provided key steady money for me that I would have had to have worked my way up to in blogging, and, at the time, my family needed instant monetary gratification.
I say all of this as a back drop because I have seen every freelance writing site attacked in both onsite comments and on other sites as spammy, subpar, lackluster, full of idiots, drivel, etc. Why? Typically because a writer at Site A was jealous that Site B got more search traffic, ad clicks or rejected them and hired Writer A instead.
I occupy many corners of the web on a lesser level and I follow many others silenty. I bump into many of the same people over and over and vice versa. Some of them only want to drop acidic comments at the expense of anyone who has earned something they felt should have been presented to them on a silver platter because they hang out where the cool kids are.
As for the Journalist way up there in the comments. You may have a four year degree based in academia, but I am in my twenties and am verging on having ran a small business for 1/4 of my life while actively manging an ever-growing freelance writing portfolio for two years with a direct focus on business and personal finance. Am I better than you? No. But my real world experience balances out your educational credentials. We would start out an even ground for almost any beat writing assignment. There are many mommy bloggers whose work could dance circles around mine, they would leave us both in the dust.
Companies want people who can WORK, though I’m sure there are a few places where a person who can stand in a corner screaming “I have a degree in journalism” would come in handy…a sock company is one.
I am a product review blogger and I am also a professional ghostwriter. With that said, I think this guy who wrote the article is a real nutcase. I do agree that there are a few mommy bloggers out there who write poorly written reviews and never say a dang negative thing about an item they are reviewing. Furthermore, these same bloggers don’t properly keyword link or anything for their sponsor and most of those same bloggers write 1 mini paragraph and call it a review. When I see that, I see bloggers who want free goods but don’t want to take the time to write properly written reviews.
It is important that a reviewer blogger really try out and use the product they are reviewing so that they can write a truthful and honest review about the product. Reviewer’s should not be afraid to say something negative about an item or service they are reviewing just so they can keep on getting free products. Btw…I don’t consider them to be free considering I spend numerous hours trying out the products, writing about the products and then I heavily promote my written reviews online…in other words, they are in payment of my time and efforts.
With that said, there are bad apples in every profession. The majority of us product review bloggers are doing it the right way and being honest & truthful in our reviews. I just with the bad apples would get with the program and do it correctly even after being told they have been doing it the wrong way.
I think that just shows they are a true bad apple. Any blogger who is in it for the right reasons and needs pointers to make it better, would listen to constructive criticism. The bad apples or ones in it just for money or free things are always going to ignore any advice on the issue.
Couldn’t have said it any better than Shelly!
Thanks, Jennifer, for opening the dialogue about this. I think it really valuable for “mommy bloggers” to reflect and discuss this issue of sponsored reviews and posts. We are all still trying to figure out what we think about them. At least I do.
I don’t have a problem with bloggers getting paid to work with brands, our time and input is valuable and journalists, after all, get paid as well, but in my post about this I cautioned bloggers to really consider the companies they attach their good name to.
I would hate to be in the middle of this Similac controversy, and I wonder if the bloggers who reviewed this app couldn’t see this coming — that there would be an uproar about an app from a formula company that features a breastfeeding component. But hey, if they really think this app is a great idea, that’s their business to review it for money.
But I think sponsored campaigns will always be looked at with more scrutiny, be that fair or not.
I saw that that Bnet writer wrote another post just yesterday about “sponsored” bloggers who reviewed an app for MomTrends — seems a theme for him.
Dagmar
Dagmar’s momsense
The difference in between blogging and “real journalism” is the fact that often we are blogging based entirely upon our opinion.
We don’t have to be unbiased. In fact,we can be biased all we want.
The fact is that is that whether or not someone has integrity and is going to write their true opinion or an opinion that is paid for is really about the individual blogger. Does an individual have the ability to tell it like it is even if it means potentially upsetting a brand? What if other companies don’t want to work with you anymore?
Well that is the price you pay for integrity. Some just won’t like, but most will respect it.
What I think is more important is why should I trust someones opinion as a mom blogger? What makes you as a mom blogger any better qualified than any of the other mom bloggers out there? What are you saying that is more captivating, entertaining, and realistic than what is already written in the countless parenting magazines, websites, and books?
Produce quality content. If you happen to be compensated by a brand to do so, well I congratulate you for it. Obviously that brand thought you were entertaining enough to put THEIR stamp of approval on you, and it is up to you if you return the favor.
Haters will always hate. Keep making that cheddar, baby!!
I am new to the blogging world and as I hold my 8 month old in my left hand and type with my right I am wondering how on earth everyone is “making a living” off blogging. LoL. I started blogging to talk about my adult thoughts and feelings while I am at home with my girls all day. I love doing product reviews and giveaways on my blog but like most have said, I only do them on things I like, want or need. I guess I haven’t made it big enough to be given the opportunity to be offered tons of “worthless” stuff to review, I have actually had to hunt down everything I get & tell my honest thoughts on them (good & bad). I hope I don’t get my posts pulled into all of this drama and have yet to have any nasty comments left on my blog. What a great post & tons of awesome comments. If I see a blog that is all over the place, and I can see that the writer is “lazy” or sounds uneducated I don’t follow and move on. Just like the real world, there are tons of ignorant people I don’t see why the net would be any different.
As a reader of blogs, as opposed to a writer, thousands lose their credibilty & truth via ridiculous sponsored product reviews (to me). Possibly they think their readers are less educated and believe their hype. If one more freebie momblogger posts the “free amazing alaska guide” to be had, im going to order one so I can hit them with it at a conference. Sorry girls.
I think the Bnet writer is very biased against the mommy blogger world. Sure there are some bad apples who will say anything for money or the free product, but I have never accepted a sponsored post, review or giveaway that I would not use or haven’t used. My reviews are always honest, if I don’t like something, I will mention it. But these situations are not bound to the mommy blogging community alone, there are many bloggers who are not parents who will do anything and say anything for a form of payment.
Thanks for the article Jennifer! I wish I would have read it earlier!
Someone gave me the heads up on the Theraflu article because I was mentioned. Then I saw I was mentioned in the Similac article.
I was panicked, this has never happened to me before and I was so mad!
I never take a sponsored post unless it’s something I truly like. I gets pitches for sponsored posts a lot and turn them down if they are not a good fit for myself and my readers or demand a positive review or demand not to say it was sponsored.
My thing with Sponsored Posts is I feel I’m getting paid for my time. This is time being taken away from my family so I’m getting paid!
It’s like my husband said. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan get paid to advertise Nikes and for their time. Are “Mommy Bloggers” time and opinions not worth it?
Sorry, but I don’t think it’s right that all these mommy bloggers are coming out of the woodwork, passing off their writing as quality writing and getting paid for it. I have a BA in Journalism but apparently in the online world of mommy blogging, it doesn’t mean anything. Why should someone get paid for bad writing, when there are others who CAN write PROFESSIONALLY??? That never made sense to me. I don’t think it’s a jealousy issue either. I have been to so many “mommy blogs” with misspellings, grammar mistakes and bad writing. I think all these mommy bloggers need to take writing classes and stop passing themselves off as professionals. Because we all know, if there were no freebies or advertising revenue for them, 90% would shut down their blogs and go back to wiping butts and making sandwiches.
I’m hoping this is a joke.
There are mommy bloggers who are astrophysicists, doctors, lawyers, and yes, even journalists.
I was a paid writer before the term blog was even coined. And if you would like to get into an academic credential pissing match with me, by all means…let’s go.
I assure you that few bloggers are making salaries. Those who are are either talented writers or community builders or have otherwise filled a need.
A mother’s experience with a parenting product is
a valid perspective.
Now, as I stated earlier, there are some complex issues to address here. Bloggers who plan to work with companies would be wise to learn more about these issues.
However, you do not need a degree in journalism to understand the basic underlying issues and principles here and no degree in journalism is going to give you an intuitive understanding of social media.
There is no way to shut the floodgates on this one. Instead of railing against the tide, perhaps you could use your education to teach a class or put together an eBook–a journalism primer for non-journalists in new media.
I really think you should take back your comment about mom bloggers going back to wiping butts and making sandwiches. I am a “mom blogger” I have a degree from a Big 10 College in Finance, I worked at one of the largest corporations in the world and now I am a blogger and my husband and I own a very successfull company. Your putting a stereotype out there that is far from the truth. So if I was not blogging I wouldnt be just staying home wiping butts.
Whoa, there are lots of really talented, interesting and relevant Mom bloggers out there AND they’re doing it while wiping butts and making sandwiches. If they have a great personality that comes through in their writing, and have interesting topics, then who cares if there’s a misspelled word here and there? The average Mom is just happy to have that moment of escape from their daily life to worry about grammatical perfection.
I guess those people with degree and CAN WRITE PERFECTLY because they have a degree in writing better start asking themselves, Why On Earth That Mommies Who Can Only “make sandwiches and wiping butts” are getting the job instead of them? don’t you think there’s a problem with them?Maybe they think of themselves as High & Mighty and they don’t want to look for a job but want the job look for them, while this “wiping butt” work really hard to learn how blogging world works and now job is coming their way.and nope,I’m not only a “wiping butt” mom, I have a degree in Computer Engineering and so far it benefits me with blogging because I learn everything on my own.
The majority of mommy bloggers do not claim to be writers or journalists, they are bloggers. There are some bloggers who have the skills to be writers for sure and many of them do a lot of freelance work on other blogs as well. As far as getting paid for writing, we aren’t getting paid for our technical writing skills, we are getting paid based on our knowledge of social media, how to engage others, showing our own personal experiences with products, building a community feel.
I do product reviews in my blog, but just like the rest of the mommies, I only accept products that I like to try and have a tendency to use for a long span of time as I don’t want to use my blog to spread negativity.
As for Mom Bloggers who always got accused of being everything,all I can say is, maybe those people are simply bitter and can’t accept the truth that even mom who stay at home all day and work in their PJ’s can earned more than those corporate slaves who basically, what they did all day is making coffee for others.
I think this boils down to ethics. Just because everyone else is in bed with marketing agencies doesn’ t mean moms should be. W eshould be transparent with our followers especially when recommending products and services. I trust moms who shares experiences as opposed to those who push products for perks. I don’t promote what I don’t use myself or give my children.
Some of the problems in the “mom blog” community I think are:
1. We all learn as we go with our blog. Many bloggers didn’t really think about disclosures and such when they started and learned along the way so there. There are new bloggers every day still learning.
2. Jealousy is here in the mom blog community. Not everyone, not even the majority, but make no mistake it is out there. People wonder why they aren’t getting asked to events, why they can’t get the really expensive “free stuff”, and why does this mom blogger deserve more than they do, etc. The folks who are jealous seem to be the ones who spout out the venom a LOT and draws more attention to the negative.
3. There are some greedy people out there who really just try “mom blogging” for the free stuff/money. I would say the majority of them don’t last because there lack of sincerity becomes obvious to brands – or at the very least they are stuck working on very small campaigns. However, some of those small campaigns, if you do enough, provided enough extra income for those bloggers to make it worth their while I guess.
With that being said, I still think the bulk of the mom blogging community is a great bunch and I am never ashamed to be called a mommy blogger at all. I take a lot of pride in my blog and I know so many others do as well. Because others are hearing our voices we are naturally going to draw in the accusatory attitude, if we weren’t successful no one would care.
Personally, I think that the person who wrote that article feels threatened because we as bloggers, can make money doing something we love. I am not a mom, but I am a blogger and I do write about mom’s and kid’s products because some of my readers are moms. If you ask me, mom bloggers have it made – and they should! They are able to talk with other moms, get products to review and best of all, they can stay at home with their family. I think it’s stupid when people attack bloggers for getting paid. If we were working with advertising on television, they wouldn’t have anything to say. Keep doing what you love and be proud of it!
Not sure I completely agree with this “Of course, all of these stereotypes are untrue” but then that is what commenting is for.
I have been blogging for about 3 years now and earn a living doing so and what I see now is bloggers, mainly mom bloggers, being copycats. Lots of new bloggers see they can get something free if they write reviews and they don’t do a thorough job of representing the brand or the product. The public decides we all do the same thing decide all mom bloggers are the same, thus the sterotype.
I met up with an editor from the Consumer Reports magazine recently at a show in NYC and he said they NEVER buy the products they review. They put every product through an extensive review test. They don’t allow brands to see the review before it gets published even though some want it. Basically, they don’t cater to the brand. Many mom bloggers aren’t don’t have the time or man power like a Consumer Reports would but what I would like to see is bloggers not jump so fast to get free products and also do thorough reviews with pros and cons. Almost nothing out there doesn’t have some kind of con even if it is just the price is too high.
And, I don’t think many mom bloggers realize they are supposed to be claiming all of that free stuff from the free coupon to the free vacuum on their taxes.
Sell out? Yes, there are a lot of them. Yes, I also review products but I don’t accept payments of any kind. I give unbias, truthful reviews and often just give the products away and I buy most of them myself. I want my review site to be consider legitimate and I want the public reading my reviews to get facts and have it useful to them. I don’t want to be obligated to brands. I think blogger should be relying on the affiliate links and ads on their site to make the money, not getting paid.
Wendy – how is relying on affiliate links and ads different than working with brands? I’ve done both over the years. When I used affiliate links on my other sites (not my blog) over the years I got specific product links and incorporated them into the writing on my blog or put up specific ads for them. I don’t see any different between the two as far as SOME bloggers pushing specific content because of being paid in some capacity for it.
The difference, Robyn, is that affiliate links and ads are clearly designed by the advertiser and promote his point of view. Content, on the other hand, is assumed to be written by the blogger and promote her point of view.
If content and advertising are clearly separated, the reader never gets confused. If there’s even a risk of confusion, IMO, the blogger loses credibility. And one little sentence at the bottom of a long blog entry doesn’t clarify the way an affiliate link or ad does.
Yes, it’s true that with a blogger, the “ad salesman” and the “reporter” are the same person, but that’s also true with a lot of small, traditional newspapers. The point is that 1) the advertiser knows he has no control over the content (much as he would like to), and 2) the reader knows at a glance who is controlling what content.
The problem is, as soon as you accept money for content, the advertiser feels entitled to control over content. And the reader assumes he’s had that control. Hence my opinion: bloggers should never be paid for reviews, but should definitely encourage companies to advertise on their blog.
I disagree about “that affiliate links and ads are clearly designed by the advertiser and promote his point of view. Content, on the other hand, is assumed to be written by the blogger and promote her point of view. ”
As I said, on another website I had several years ago I made money strictly from affiliate programs. But I wrote some content based strictly on the fact I wanted to include an affiliate link (not a blog type site at all). I beg to differ that many people (who don’t have sites/blogs) would understand a hyperlink for an affiliate or a hyperlink that just goes to a non-affiliate place.
What Robyn said.
Affilliate links are hardly based on the advertiser’s point of view. One can say anything of opinion and include an affiliate link.
Also, like Robyn pointed out, the average, non-blogger reader usually does not know the difference between an affiliate link and a hyperlink. Especially now with so many services available to turn words and links into affiliate links.
I do agree with Wendy that its unfortunate that not all bloggers comply with ethical standards of reviewing a product. It does give the business a bad name.
To combat that impression, as a blogger, its my job to focus on the positive and give us a good name and to find, promote and encourage the good in this community.
“To combat that impression, as a blogger, its my job to focus on the positive and give us a good name and to find, promote and encourage the good in this community.”
Excellent job for all of us!!!
It seems to me that no one has an issue with sponsored content, until they disagree with it. This guy most likely caught wind of someone’s displeasure with the App and promotion of it & saw it as a band wagon to jump on.
I have mixed opinions on the app, but must say Collective Bias is very careful about making sure all work done through them is fully disclosed.
I disagree with your first statement. I have seen plenty of articles discussing the concerns about paid content, including the nuances of paid reviews vs. sponsored content vs. advertorial vs. whatever else is next, in a general way.
But I wholeheartedly agree with your second statement–which is why I think the tone of posts discussing this one has been notably different than some of the past discussions. Everyone has been upfront in this campaign. That goes a long way, in my opinion. The campaign was structured well in that aspect.
The other thing that is different about this one is that the bloggers were not fed questionable information by scientists paid by the company.
As far as I can tell, they were just given the application and asked to write their opinion.
I do have concerns about this application and its marketing that I wish were discussed in some of the reviews…but I don’t think the bloggers purposefully excluded these topics and I am fairly sure they were not told to do so.
At the same time, I think it is important to consider that while a disclosure may meet our obligations for transparency, it does not nullify our obligations to be careful when deciding with whom we work.
I wrote about this awhile back because of a post on the Disney Mom Blogs about a mom blogger who said her life turned into stats and blog fodder. She said that being a blogger made her a bad blogger. Made her lose her principles.
And then talking with the lead marketer of a major cereal company, I was told about bloggers who started out in a certain way, gained a bit of a following and suddenly took any sponsorships that were offered to them. In effect, they sold out.
i used to think that “selling out” was unsuccessful people being cranky about successful people making a living… but now I can distinctly see the difference.
I will never accept money or blog about something that I don’t believe in. I will never allow myself to lower my standards to blog about something for money.
But that being said… They’re MY STANDARDS.
I’m eco friendly. I blog about it and I talk about it. Currently I have never owned a car or driven one on a regular basis. This is going to change at some point in the near future and I will be buying a car. Currently, my blog is a no-car-sponsorship zone, and as such I have the benefits of credibility as an eco blogger. When I do decide to buy a car, I’ll be making a decision based on cost and eco-consciousness, as much as I can… But my standards will have changed because I’ll become a driver and I will be more drawn to sponsorships that are geared towards drivers.
Have I sold out if I accept a sponsor from a car company? I don’t think I have. I think that in this way, a blog can grow and move… and MONETIZE in a way that it may not have before, as we move, grow, change, and monetize as people.
You can shift and bend without completely breaking. I really do think that there are people with REAL principles in any world, the blog world is no exception.
*ahem* being a blogger made her a bad mother. Apologies.
The guy is prolly jealous. We get to be paid AND stay at home with our kids….which is rare these days and not many can do that. So sad that people have to write things such as that.
I have found that when people are cut down, it’s because the one doing the cutting down, has a low self esteem. If mom bloggers are as bad as they claim, then why do they bother with insulting us? Moms are valuable, without moms there would be no humans left. Don’t let their criticism get you down. Rise above it and keep blogging. The opinions of moms directs the economy, cut down the moms and they cut off the hands that feed them. Pun intended.
Upfront: I am a member of the Collective Bias site and have served as a consultant and Blog Ambassador for some of their campaigns. I did not participate in this one.
Your questions are great ones and I think this may be a case of all of the above.
There are a few things to tease out here. First, yes, the traditional media disparages bloggers in general and mom bloggers make a convenient target.
The whole, “why isn’t she watching the kids” line of thinking used to aggravate me and now I just shrug and move on. It is so prevalent, this idea that mothers shouldn’t have a voice, and so patently absurd.
I think there is distrust, in general, of sponsored reviews. I think I can be impartial when I review something, paid directly or not…but I can also see why readers would be distrustful of this.
Part of the issue is that while I have clear definitions in my head of “paid review”, “advertorial”, “sponsored content”, and “brand ambassador”, these terms may mean different things to others and the lines can easily blur, even with disclosure.
In traditional media, having separate departments and separate people selling ads, assigning stories, and writing stories, gives the illusion that there is no cross-over. As anyone who has ever taken a media class knows, this illusion is just that. However, it is something that traditional media clings to.
When a blogger is publisher, editor, writer, and sales…there is no protection from these accusations of conflict of interest.
The article you link to is just a hatchet piece, clearly.
However, there are some valid points to be made here. Before I accept money from a company, I think it through very carefully. We need to be very conscious of who is getting what from the deal.
I see companies approaching bloggers who do not have a lot of experience in their industries. One of the reasons we are getting heat as mom bloggers is because of this. Tech bloggers presumably have the tech savvy to assess and interpret claims that go beyond their own personal experience and use of a product. Some mom bloggers may be nurses or doctors, IT pros, educators, lawyers, etc. However, a lot of these campaigns features moms who are not.
I consider myself an educated, intelligent, and media savvy person–but I am not a doctor, a chemist, a lawyer, etc. I am an educator and so I feel I can give a professional opinion in that area. In most other specialty areas, I can only tell you my own experience and opinion. I can tell you if I like a stroller, how the stroller works for my family, but I cannot personally diagram the physics of why it doesn’t tip over while remaining light and easy to carry.
When this is just to get the take or the endorsement of the “mom on the street” and all is disclosed, that shouldn’t be a problem.
However, I worry when technical “information” is fed to bloggers and often appears word for word in their posts. I haven’t checked out these posts yet, so I am not saying that happened here. I am just saying that it does happen in campaigns.
In this case, we are talking about an application that serves a medical function.
If I were to try out an application like this, I would want to do research outside of the materials given to me by the company. I would want to highlight any possible conflicts of interest and explore any controversies involved.
And I would also remember that the companies, especially the larger ones, are not just after positive reviews–they are also after the buzz, the mentions, the links. So, even if I write a balanced review that takes into consideration possible issues with the product, I would need to think about whether or not I want to provide that sort of publicity to the company on my site.
Yes, traditional media needs to know we are here to stay. However, we need to understand that when we take the leap from personal journaling to journalism or endorsements, and do so without the benefit of classes in these issues or media pros to help us think through the implications, we will be under scrutiny. Perhaps more scrutiny than is fair…
“I think there is distrust, in general, of sponsored reviews. ”
Yes yes and YES. There certainly is. Especially by traditional journalists, and I don’t blame them entirely. Isn’t there distrust of sponsored reviews in our own community? Thanks for calling it Candace.
Honestly, I think the suggestions that this BNET writer is jealous, threatened or has low self-esteem are missing the mark. I think he believes he has a point, one that’s informed by covering several stories about ethical challenges in the mom blogging review community.
I still think he is unfairly singling out this community. I still think his article lost any credibility because of the amateur, decidedly unjournalistic way he handled facts and support points. But if we all spend a little more time thinking about what the problem actually might be, instead of arguing that there’s no problem at all–maybe the more valuable we can all be for our readers.
Sounds like this guy just didn’t get enough hugs as a kid. I’m just sayin.
Wow, thank you for this article, Jennifer. First of all, it makes me sad to read that he’s criticizing/accusing CB in this way (CB is such an awesome community of people, and I would defend them in a heartbeat to anyone). Second of all, I think that more often than not, moms get “dumbed down,” especially “mommy bloggers.” What I mean is that I think a lot of these critics simply don’t understand that many of the greatest minds in this world are those of moms/aka, mommy bloggers; after all, we’re raising up the next generation and juggling life as it comes. It makes me angry to read articles like this, but it can only serve to bolster me even more to success. Mommy bloggers are a force to be reckoned with, and many perceive that as a threat to their own success. Personally, I’d love to show these critics a rundown of my schedule as a homeschooling “mommy blogger” and see if they could indeed handle it….or if, by the end of the day, they’d be completely fried from all of the balancing/juggling. Many mom bloggers are corporations within themselves, meaning they handle every single thing in regards to their blog, be it financial/accounting, writing, pr/advertising, communications, freelancing, projects, etc. I think that critics need to walk a day in our shoes and get the REAL picture….they need to see the big picture before they go off on a ridiculous rant such as this. Just my thoughts….:)
GREAT article Jennifer. (Thank you so much for all that you do!)
I was also one of the “bunch of mommy bloggers” compensated to review this app. I read his article and as everyone has previously said, he clearly did not read the reviews. 1 – the reviews were not all positive (myself included) 2 – the app is NOT all about breastfeeding vs formula (it tracks quite a bit more info for us parents in zombie-like states for those first few weeks).
He is quick to point out (and everybody else who commented jumped in on this) that the bloggers were promoting the use of formula and that since the app predicts a feeding schedule, that said schedule would push new mothers towards using formula to accommodate the apps suggestions.
Wow – is it just me, or di he pause for a brief second from bashing mommy bloggers to go ahead and tell everyone that he thought ALL mothers were stupid and couldn’t think for themselves? After all, if the iPhone app tells me that my baby should be hungry now and he isn’t, I’m going to run straight to Abbott and they will push me to feed formula, right?
Give me a break! I’m an intelligent person. I *know* I need to call my baby’s DOCTOR when I have questions and not a formula company. When I read that this app can possibly predict the time when baby will be hungry again, my “mom sized” brain can comprehend that this is a computer generated suggestion based on averages of previously inputted data. I know that my *real* baby is an individual and can not be categorized or placed on a schedule – that every day will be different from the next (or previous).
Professional reviews have never been paid for. The company provides the item being reviewed for free, and that’s all the payment the reviewer gets. “Sponsored content” is advertising, and it’s usually printed in a different place than regular content and always clearly distinct. The clear distinction between advertising and editorial content is one of the ways publications keep their credibility.
Bloggers do blur the lines, I agree, but that’s one of the reasons bloggers are considered less credible than traditional press. I think if a blogger wants to be taken seriously, s/he should consider NOT running sponsored content except as advertising.
If the makers of Similac want to advertise on your blog, great! If they want to provide you a news release, which you then rewrite as you like, great!
But if a blogger runs “sponsored content” in the same space as editorial content with nothing but a statement buried within the content to show that it’s sponsored, then that blogger will never have the same credibility as news outlets (bloggers or mainstream press) that follow traditional, professional standards.
I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that we are mommies, except that mommybloggers are probably the most visible and most organized of the monetized bloggers, hence an easy target.
And just for the record, I am both a blogger and a mommy, though my blog is neither monetized nor about being a mommy, per se.
I have an honest observation to make here.
When an author writes a professional review for a publication, my assumption is that the author is being paid, no? True, not by the company sending the product, but by the publication he/she works for? I mean, nobody works FOR FREE, do they? And yet you say that product is “all the payment the reviewer gets.” Really?
Now, bloggers are their own publication, so they don’t have that “larger organization” to pay them for their time to research a product sent to them by a company, write the review, provide relevant links, and promote the review within their communities. Just as an author at a publication would not do this out of the kindness of their heart, I don’t think I should be expected to, either. (that’s not to say I don’t review for free – I do it all the time. but it sure is nice when companies understand the WORK involved in what I do. Work that anyone working at a publication would be paid for.)
Every time I’ve been paid for a review (and disclosed that fact to readers), my understanding was that it wasn’t my opinion being bought, it was my time being compensated.
I think Katrina brings up a fair point. There is definitely a difference between a review for which you are accountable to an editor, and a review for which you are accountable to the person paying you to write it.
It has nothing to do with your right to be paid for your work. The question is whether you lose your readers’ trust in the process. Because the perception–whether fair or unfair–is often that yes, your opinion is being bought. The same way a celebrity’s opinion is being bought when she hawks a vacuum on TV.
I really don’t understand what his beef is, except maybe he’s not happy that people other than he get paid to share their opinions. Perhaps part of the issue is that so many bloggers started out by not charging. Then when they realized how in demand their opinions are, and how much time they invested in blogging, a small form of compensation seemed adequate. I’m certainly not opposed to it. I can’t tell you how many countless hours I’ve spent writing book reviews. While I opt not to charge, there’s no saying I wouldn’t do it in the future.
All I can say is Wow. You all need to post these comments on Bnet. ;o)
Seriously, I think the majority of the comments there recognize this for what it is. And I don’t think very many people took the guy’s comments as realistically describing mommy bloggers. So it appears that even though the guy wanted to put mommy bloggers down, he actually brought out some very legitimate comments about them on his own blog. That, in itself, is pretty cool.
I think it comes down to the old press verus bloggers long standing ‘fued’.
Newspaper/tv/magazine writers, old school, don’t see bloggers as press, like THEY are, BUT at the same time want to hold them to the same ethics and rules, cause the FTC says so.
Blogs by their inhereit DEFINITION are personal, and NOT impartial. Therefore if a blogger gets on with a particular brand that they support already, that is THEIR choice. Those reading said blog will SEE the disclosure and have the option of reading say Consumer Reports if they want a neutral test of said product. But the actuality is, most people WANT a real-life test on products, and that what mom bloggers can give them. Thus how mom-bloggers have becomethe movers and shakers.
SIGH……..one day everybody will grow up and let the other side be….
I have always wanted to attend CES and this year I was able to go as media because of my blog. What I was not prepared for when I got to Vegas was the negative attitudes that I received at a CES party from some of the “established media”. They actually made a point to come over and tell me that they long for the days before bloggers were “allowed” to be part of the media events and when the economy gets better they hope that CES will wise up and stop allowing bloggers to attend. I was shocked that total strangers would openly voice such comments to me.
Later when I was having dinner with a PR rep that is a friend, she told me that the traditional media is really having issues with bloggers coming in on their turk. So while I a certain that sponsored content happens in all forms of media, there seems to be a real issue with bloggers being in the mix.
VERY interesting! I went to a UN event in NYC last year and I was introduced to all of these policy people as the “mommy blogger”. It was very uncomfortable and it allowed me to see into how traditional media see us.
Wow! This article surprises me, although it should not. I am also not shocked by people’s blatant rudeness to others. Blogging is opening a lot of doors for people, not just “mommy bloggers.” Overall, we live in a dog-eat-dog world that is constantly evolving so we have to remain tough, stand our ground and continue to speak out and educate when we are wronged.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
I can kind of understand their point of view. Many traditional media go to college and they probably feel upstaged by mom bloggers.
Excuse me, is the assumption that mom bloggers have NOT gone to college? What a very curious – and in many cases, inaccurate – assumption to make!
I went to college and am actually going back to school to take some PR/Media classes because I am loving Blogging and the world of Social Media so much! ;-)
I am just thinking from their point of view and how they might get defensive when someone who starts up a blog (who might be a mom with our without a college education) has the potential do even better than they would when they had to study and get a degree to do the same thing.
And most mommy bloggers didn’t go to college? Not every journalist has a journalism degree. And some mommy bloggers may.
Magazines like Vogue, Glamour, et al have mixed up sponsored ads along with all kinds of advertorial and original content for decades – in fact, that’s kind of their purpose. I guess the problem with bloggers who are doing the same is that we don’t know our place. [sarcasm]
The whole point of reading a mom review is to get the honesty of another mom. How it did or didn’t help out their day, is it beneficial and would they personally use/buy it had it not been free.
It’s a fine line when your doing sponsored posts. I think that if your going to take that route and NOT give your personal opinion, more an overview, then it should be clearly stated as such. “This is a sponsored post on behalf of so and so” Or simply “Advertisement”.
You don’t want to lose the value of your honesty with your readers.
Great read again Jennifer! Thanks☺
~Veronica
Yeah I thought his entire article was just designed to grab headlines. He clearly did not even read my review of the app.
My husband said that the site was full of anti-blogger articles.
It was also clear that no one really views that site or the author as a serious journalist as evidenced by the lack of comments, tweets about the article, etc.
I think that most of the comments were from bloggers.
Exactly. I noticed a large amount of keyword links in his article and it seems like he was just trying to stir controversy, probably to get comments or page views.
I am not so interested in the journalist view of mommy bloggers, he obviously doesn’t like them and some of his reasons are good ones. I am more concerned with the blatant promotion of baby formula via this app. I don’t think the mom’s who agreed to review the app are aware that they are helping a company break the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. While these are not laws, WHO put lots of time and energy in creating them so as to protect people worldwide from the negative results of promoting in any way formula.
I think that we as Mommies need to be a bit more on top of our game and not be so eager to please and to research issues and the consequences of our blogging before delving in.
Peace.
I think mommy bloggers (and other bloggers) go above and beyond to disclose any type of sponsorship relationship. Sponsored content is not a new phenomena. More than 20 years ago, I was writing advertorial copy for magazines and newspapers to use. And the disclosure on blogs is much more prominent than disclosure on advertorial copy. I think the reason that other media outlets and bloggers come down so hard on mommy bloggers is that they feel the bloggers are taking profits from them. A sponsored post is much less expensive than an advertorial.
Great article, Jennifer. I always enjoy coming over to read. I have to say – sponsored content is everywhere. I see it on some lovely food blogs I follow, I see it on major brand websites and even on the news the other day there was a painful pitch on the news for some debt consolidation firm that was SO clearly sponsored. It’s a shame mom bloggers get a bad rap but then again, some people simply must pick on someone, and as a group, moms and especially mom bloggers are a powerful force.
I view blogs as an evolving media. Don’t TV commercials (for the most part) paint products/services in a positive light? At least TV stations get paid to air those commercials.
I see nothing wrong with sponsored posts – disclosed as such.
I only take opps that I feel are either a good fit for me or for my audience. I pass on a lot of review opportunities, actually! I try to be balanced when writing reviews and if there was something I didn’t like, I’d mention it. Not every product is going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Companies who solicit “mommy bloggers” know what they want — they want their products reviewed with a mom’s eye. They know who reads blogs and they know they want to reach that audience.
This might just be me but I find the term “Mommy Bloggers” to pretty much be used by a lot of folks who, for one reason or another want to attempt to marginalize, trivialize the work and efforts of a pretty large community of writers.
I know some great women who write about a lot of things, some of those women happen to be mothers,all of them follow FTC guidelines regarding disclosure, all of them do their level best to produce balanced reviews & do so with amazing skill.
Anybody who starts off an article critiquing a female blogger with the term “Mommy bloggers” gets rewarded with their article being immediately sent to my trash folder
As someone who had to use formula after valiantly trying to breastfeed, I’m sensitive to the issue already. And as someone who blogs and wants respect for it and eventually money, I think “mommy bloggers” have not insisted on taking themselves seriously enough. In terms of titles, writing style and most of all compensation. I’m a mom and a blogger but I call myself a writer. Until we insist on being treated seriously we will continue up be attacked and marginalized.
I started out as a mommy blogger. Many of the moms who I connected with through clubs turned out to be blog-spammers. Most of their content was sponsored. BORING!
I’m a political blogger now and the posts I connect with are more from-the-heart than many of those from the mommy crowd.
Don’t get me wrong. I still mix with a few of my old mommy friends, and their blogs are intimate and filled with raw honesty. Excellent reading.
If it was a bunch of guys would it be as big of a deal? I dont think so but its the topic its breastfeeding verse formula thats at the heart of it… and it does blast mom bloggers because of that topic and its a shame we cant all have different views on life.
I’m a mom, I’m a blogger, maybe that makes me a mommy blogger. However, I’m also a professional freelance writer and an independent thinker, quite capable of expressing myself intelligently and forming my own opinion about a brand. I have a review site, I review only the things that interest me, and I’ve written negative reviews before. I don’t appreciate the tone of that article that implies “mommy bloggers” are less intelligent and able to think for themselves than so-called “real journalists.” I think we’re actually far less biased than other sources because, bottom line, we care about what we’re bringing into our home and near our children, and we care about our reputation. Blogs are a penny a dozen out there, so if we’re just spouting corporate nonsense, no one will want to read us. Bloggers have a greater need to provide valuable content than, say, an established news paper or magazine. I don’t make a dime off of Pretty Nameless, I do that one all for fun. I haven’t made money off my review blog yet because it’s still new, but if I do get a little something for it here and there, it’ll be because I earned it fair and square, not because I jumped into bed with a nasty corporation. I follow over 200 “mommy blogs,” and I can safely say they all seem to have very similar attitudes. I wouldn’t be following them if they didn’t. I apologize for the long comment, I’m a bit of a rambler when I get my hackles up over something.
That whole article started out with a pejorative tone and it didn’t ease up. I didn’t feel like wasting my time commenting on it, since it really seemed like overt linkbait.
I’m a member of the Collective Bias community and I remember reading the call for bloggers to participate in this review opportunity. Since I never used formula and my kids are both well past that developmental stage, I didn’t even think about applying for it. The bloggers who did participate had a pertinent interest in the application and reviewed it thoughtfully and critically. They also disclosed their compensation. Not sure what the scandal is.
Yep. Read one or two of his articles and you’ve read them all.
I agree with his point about compensated reviews–not because it is his but because it is correct–all disclosures should be made when product or money changes hands.
And to his point about bogus personal journalism…how many of us LOVE biographies and autobiographies? Blogging is that in bite-sized pieces. I noticed that people in my extended fmily who are huge fans of biographical nonfiction were suddenly nervous to discover a writer in their family.
yes! agreed entirely re: the tone. also, i love the analogy mindy made of blogging being biographies and autobiographies “in bite-sized pieces.”
::nodding:: my head so hard that it may fall off my neck.
(Not surprisingly!) I think Liz’s point is an excellent one, and having been to Alt Summit recently, I agree. It makes much more sense in many peoples’ brains for brand partnerships to be forged when the blogger is associated with a professional niche — be it tech, design, or what have you. Whereas if one is not familiar with the space, in parallel, the term mommy blogger conveys that you are using your role as a mom to leverage yourself financially. Which conjures other issues of whether being a mom is really a job. And so forth.
Also, I know the point is not to discuss formula, but I think it’s a related variable here. If the sponsored campaign was for something not so specifically geared towards little ones, the response may have been different. Because the campaign is around formula, not only does it carry an inherent albatross on its own from a nursing v. formula perspective, but it adds another layer to the (wildly incorrect) assumption that mom’s can only get ahead by using their childrens’ livelihood as a stepping stone.
Your comment reminded me of when I attended the Lavish conference in Atlanta last year with style and design bloggers. It was like walking into a biz conference.
He posted another article today about the Theraflu App. Same cut and paste of the Similac article basically.
I do not class myself as a Mummy Blogger, however I am a mother, and a blogger, and I love reading many Mummy blogs. I think there is an intrinsic disrespect of mothers in western society, and this is simply another manifestation of this. Before I became a mother I worked in the corporate world. I knew I was not going to return to an office job, and I felt the need to make excuses for my desire to be a SAHM.
I have nothing but respect for any blogger that has children and is able to find the time and commitment to nurturing a blog. If you receive compensation for some of your reviews, or have advertising on your blog, why should you be criticised? Do we criticise magazines for having advertisements? No. Do we criticise the various editors for reviewing the products they receive for free? No.
How is blogging any different. And if a reader does not like it, stop reading. It’s not hard.
I’ve frequently suggested that I dislike the term “mommy blogger” because (among other things) it describes the blogger and not the content. When a tech blogger, for example, is compensated for a sponsored post about technology it’s portrayed as business. When a blogger who writes about her children is compensated for a sponsored post about a product, it’s portrayed as selling out motherhood. It seems to be something people get very emotional about.
In this case however, I think we’ve got a journalist with an axe to grind. Some of his articles make legitimate points, but this one is patently unfair. His last paragraph definitely struck me as out of line, but it was when I clicked over to the Shake the Salt post he linked and saw an objective and critical review of the application, that I thought whoa–he entirely fabricated facts and omitted details to support a weak point.
I honestly don’t think that sort of “journalism” warrants as thoughtful a response as you’ve created here, Jennifer.
Very interesting point, Liz.
The perception of selling out motherhood is certainly different than selling out technology. Motherhood is so sacred no wonder some people’s heads spin when they deem it tainted in one way or another…
Thank you Jennifer. I agree the mom bloggers are being targeted unfairly, and personally I believe that their dent in consumerism in the last 8 years threatens the way things have been for a long time. Last year social media tipped the scale to influencing more then traditional advertising had been for decades. Mom bloggers represent a huge portion of social media, which changes the influencers in today’s world. In this economy women found a way to work doing something they love while having a family. I will continue to believe that all of these bloggers who accept jobs by companies like Similac are doing so b/c they stand behind the product they would like to represent. It’s called authenticity. I was told recently that when someone leaves bad comments on my blog it meant that I made it. I guess the mom bloggers can say they made it. Bravo!
Oh that guy… lol. He’s a sensationalist. I remember him from back when he pretended that the FTC was ‘stepping in to regulate compensation and blogging’ all because of George’s post http://www.bnet.com/blog/advertising-business/mommy-blogger-blackmails-crocs-marketer-ftc-poised-to-step-in/2420 – as if it was simply this one, lonely threat that finally caused the FTC to step up and regulate compensated bloggers and paid endorsements.
Nevermind the decades of Hollywood celebrities actually shilling for products they wouldn’t be caught (literally) dead in.
Take a look at the majority of his articles on there: http://www.bnet.com/blog/advertising-business?tag=drawer;blog-author-info – he’s an equal-opportunity basher. It’s not just mommy blogs – everyone from Justin Bieber on down is clearly out to *screw the American public with their evil, evil, deceptive ways!!!!!!*
Dude seriously – he’s just one noisy wheel in a poorly-oiled squeaky machine. The machine sells page views and yellow journalism gets them. CB and Abbott came off like minor annoyances to the bilge he spewed toward MomCentral last year – I mean that one he used the term Mommy Blog Industrial Complex as if somehow the Soviet Union had arisen from the ashes and was churning out evil mommy–clones, outfitting them with blogs and a Manchurian candidate mandate to screw the American public by writing blog posts that might delude them into buying *gasp* a product they might actually end up liking!!!!!!
What he doesn’t explain is who it is he thinks is buying all these shadily hawked wares he warns of – if all of the Mommies are being evil bloggers – that only leaves the deluded, foolish, and gullible *Daddies* to be the ones drawn into this web of bloggy doom!!!!!
As I said, seriously – don’t waste your time trying to figure out why someone writes something like this. There’s only one answer: money. Wait… maybe bnet.com is part of the Business Blogger Industrial Complex!!!! Gahhhh. It’s the Leninists! They’ve come to replace the Marxists! Duck & cover! ;)
p.s. Okay, I couldn’t help myself. The only people who characterize Mommy Bloggers as evil are desperately trawling for page views and can’t come up with better fodder.
lol.
So he’s sitting somewhere wringing his hand and thinking, “Bwahahaha, got them again!”
And, yes, that is quite a history.
I guess I just look at people who write like that and think ‘you know, he has some amazing credentials’ (he does, seriously, I was a little blown away by his being a ‘former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University’s business and journalism schools’, that’s actually a tough fellowship to get and gives him serious biz/econ journalism street cred) but then I can’t help but wonder why he’s writing such sensationalistic headlines and poorly supported arguments.
I think, perhaps, it’s what we turn real journalists into when we convince them that posting speed and catchy headlines are more important than accuracy, in-depth reporting, and at least an attempt to examine something from as balanced a perspective as possible.
Last November, Ted Koppel, Keith Olbermann, & Bill O’Reilly dragged the concept of ‘objective, non-partisan news
out and gave it a good roughing up – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202857.html and I still haven’t figured out whether anyone one or whether we all lost a long time ago.
Koppel belongs to the old school journalist cadre that believes that the goal (achievable or not) of any good journalist is to try to objectively report the news. Olbermann & O’Reilly, while they agree on little else, think any attempt at non-partisan reporting is delusional and rather hinted that Koppel was as well.
For me, it was the point at which I realized that we weren’t even pretending any more that journalism was about facts and editorialism was about opinions – we as a nation just rather expect people to choose a side and report whatever best supports that argument.
So in light of that, guys like Jim Edwards are just sort of par for the course. But even his writing was skirting if not outright libelous in this case. I suppose if i were an attorney I’d be arguing that yes, those were positive reviews (on the whole) and yes, they were compensated (ergo paid for) but that he wasn’t saying that they *only* paid for the positive ones, just that these positive ones were paid for… Then again, if I were sitting on a jury with that one, I’d be rolling my eyes heavily and wondering how many times that attorney flunked out of law school before she’d printed up her own diploma. (Yeah, see, not a lawyer for a reason. ;))
But what is really sad – and not humorous at all – is that if we’re going to concede that “journalists” are now biased and partisan, we have to concede that other forms of “reporting” are as well – and that means there’s every reason to believe that bloggers are too. *sigh* Which, when it comes right down to it, is rather like the criminal trying to conceive that there might be someone in that jail cell with him who might not actually be guilty.
I just couldn’t help myself when I saw who were were talking about. The snarky comment rolled off of my fingertips and through the keyboard like water off of a duck’s raincoat.
The funny part is, the people who read that article and nod their heads about the “evil, disingenuous mommy bloggers who accept money for writing reviews” didn’t need his post to condemn an entire swath of bloggers sight unseen. Those he was hoping to convince, were not compelled to care. Those he will never convince are only likely to get there through links shared by outraged mom bloggers.
It was, essentially, a waste of bandwidth.
Unless you inform or persuade? No point to writing it. That article does neither.
uneditable edits:
1)of ‘objective, non-partisan news’ out an (pesky apostrophe/quote)
2) still haven’t figured out whether anyone one or OR still haven’t figured out whether anyone won or your call, although I believe the second one makes it coherent.
3) even his writing was skirting now including more key words: even his writing that headline was skirting
4) when I saw who were were talking about better said when I saw who we were talking about – were were is more repetitive but a little embarrassing.
Proof that I need a copy editor for my comments. Sadly, they seem to want to get paid for that sort of thing.
The accusations are not only coming from critical journalists but also fellow bloggers.
As one of the participants who reviewed the Similac app for Collective Bias, I have to say that I was not ever told what to write when reviewing the app. I am surprised by the fact that some other bloggers are critical of the fact that I was compensated for my time to review the app especially in a world where so many bloggers are asking for fair compensation. As with all of my posts- compensated or not- I fully disclosed the nature of my post and didn’t let the compensation influence my review.
That’s a great point. Bloggers called for fair compensation, are slowly getting it and it’s shunned again this time from within…
Leticia, that is an EXCELLENT point!
I agree. I actually don’t take sponsored posts that say there must be a positive review. I view sponsored posts as also paying for my time to (for example an app) download it, play around with it, write the review.
That’s my time!
I think journalists like to pretend they’re pure and impartial, but the fact is they have a middleman between their sponsored content and most of us don’t. It’s called the advertising department, and it pays their salary. We don’t have a salary, and manage our own ad departments, and they sniff and say we’re such sellouts. But open the sample closet at any major fashion magazine, or examine the content in any mainstream pub. Compare the ads highlighted to the brands mentioned in the editorial. And then laugh at the supposed separation of church and state journalists say keeps them impartial. I went to journalism school and I know what the rules are SUPPOSED to be. But the fact is, we’re held to a HIGHER standard then journalists with the FTC guidelines- and maybe that’s right, since we don’t have a middleman. I’d always rather disclose than have people wonder if I’m being a mouthpiece. But I think journalists bash bloggers because we threaten them, and mommies because we’re sposed to be pink and soft and fluffy- in other words, not threatening. And yet, we’re giving them a collective spanking.
Yes!!
I had a trollish fella comment back and forth with me a few weeks ago, who then turned around and tweeted something along the lines of, if I recall correctly, “Mommy bloggers are the absolute worst thing to come from blogging.” Ouch. And? What the hell?!
He clearly doesn’t feel that we mothers can form coherent sentences or write anything intellectually, which really makes me wonder what he thought of HIS mother. What if he marries? Will he feel the same of his wife, too? Will his future-wife suddenly cease to have a brain when they conceive someday? Is that really what he thinks? He seemed an intellectual, too, albeit an ass.
What gives? I’d love to know the answer. Why aren’t we able to have websites, work with brands, and be successful by writing for a living? What is so WRONG with that?
That headline he wrote is flat out libel. Nowhere does he back up his statement that the reviews were contrived to be ‘positive’ except by 3 examples of some positive reviews?
Really?! That’s ‘journalism’?!
No, it’s not journalism. It’s sensationalist lies. If I were Collective Bias I would sue him.
Right — there is no evidence to what he asserted and the title was certainly sensational. That’s why I cringed a little when I saw it in my email. Collective Bias may have grounds. Then again, it may not even be worth the effort.
Oh Wendy, that’s only half the story! They wrote that article with the intention of getting people to join the site to comment, specifically because they SELL MEMBERS’ INFO to companies to keep their “Business Library” free. It’s in their TOS you “agree” to when becoming a member. Unbelievable! Furthermore, they spam you with their so-called”newsletters” you can’t opt out of, either. All for the sake of commenting.
I do hope Collective Bias sues them. I am so disheartened CBS has their name attached to something this ridiculous.
Lisa, your comment on bnet was effing brilliant. ;) xo
Oh, THANK YOU! :) xoxo
I have to agree with Wendy, Lisa, you are RIGHT on target over at Bnet – I wanted to respond there, but refuse to give them any of my contact information. His utter stupidity amazes me, and those that actually follow him and feed into that junk, well, I have to think they are even worse.
It boils down to the fact that because we are “mommies”, our only job should be to clean the “boo-boos”, fix the lunch and shuttle everyone to their respective places. As a mom of 7, I have truly enjoyed every moment when wiping those tears when my children fall, BUT, I’m also a former regional manager with a head full of knowledge to share and (OMG!) an opinion.
I am so tired of reading articles that put down legitimate bloggers and their opinions simply because they are mothers.
Is it not enough that stay at home moms are treated as if they aren’t contributing to their household? Now we are trying to contribute, and we are put down for that?! UGH
Thank you so much, Kim, I appreciate that. I, too, would love to comment further (especially in response to the one BNET blogger attacking Kim CraftyMamaof4) claiming her and the other bloggers lacked INTEGRITY, but you can’t respond to his comment there, they somehow blocked that capability. Nice, huh?
I, too, am so tired of seeing mom bloggers put down by making a living, having the best of both worlds – working at home. And you are SO spot on with your last paragraph – yes!
I don’t think it’s because we are women, as I’d like to think we, as a nation, have gotten past that type of discrimination. I rather think mommy bloggers are snubbed because we’re mommies. Plain and simple. A mommy is the epitome of love and truth and we give all that, asking for nothing in return. Mommies have always had brains in their heads, and with the increasing popularity of social media we’ve found innovative ways to use those brains. Much of what mommy bloggers write about is helpful, supportive, creative and un-compensated. I think the conflict journalists may have, whether they want to admit it or not, is that dear ole pure, gentle, protective mom is making a buck.
So maybe it’s an affront to them that online moms make money.