Some bloggers are under increased scrutiny for failing to disclose relationships they have with companies they promote in posts.
The FTC is considering new guidelines that would hold bloggers and companies liable for untruthful statements made on blogs or social media sites, and organisations such as Word of Mouth Marketing Association and the Social Media Business Council are developing codes of ethics that encourage transparency for independent and corporate bloggers alike.
Now a group of “mommy bloggers” is banding together to promote a group called Blog With Integrity. The self-organised, self-policing group aims to instill a new measure of credibility in the blogosphere by encouraging bloggers to come out and proclaim their incorruptibility.
Critically, bloggers who opt in to the program make a pledge: “I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.” Bloggers who take the pledge are granted permission to display the group’s logo — a ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ for bloggers, as AdAge described it.
The group said it was concerned about the FTC guidelines, and inspired by “a spring and early summer of polarizing debates about blogger compensation, sponsored posts and product reviews, an alarming increase in ethical lapses and idea theft, and a growing backlash against poor blogger relations practices”.
It’s a noble enough aim. Many blogs blur the line between outright endorsements and unbiased reviews. Companies such as Izea, which pays bloggers to promote products in blogs and tweets with marginal efforts at disclosure, further complicate the issue.
And while no one is suggesting that all blogs or social media postings should contain purely objective, unbiased reportage and criticism, it is generally accepted that readers have the right to know when they are being marketed to in a sponsored post.
But with no regulatory board and no means of enforcement, Blog With Integrity will need more than altruistic aims to help clean up the blogosphere. Maintaining a blog’s credibility demands the author’s commitment to transparency in every post, no matter how easy it might be to display a noble-looking logo.
Nor will it be easy for Blog With Integrity to get wholesale buy-in from the blogosphere. While 429 bloggers have taken the pledge so far, there are more than 100m blogs worldwide.
