thoughtsignals

Jeff Jarvis has a great post on credibility, integrity and blogging:

It is fine for a blogger or newspaper or vlogger or TV show to take advertising, clearly labeled. It is wonderful for a blogger to get paid to write, editorially. But when you write what a commercial interest tells you and pays you to write, then you are no longer speaking as yourself but in the service of that marketer. That’s fine, too, but it isn’t content. It is advertising (or advertorial, same difference). See Rules 2 and 3.

This all seems simple and obvious to me. But it’s not obvious to others, who think they can buy bloggers’ opinions and with it that buzz. They don’t understand that buzz, too, is earned. And they don’t understand that once a blogger — or journalist or publication or friend, for that matter — is bought and paid for, the credibility and value of their voice is reduced or ruined.

Credibility is the cake you can’t have and eat, too.

Jarvis’ post includes his four-point pledge of credibility and transparency, which any blogger could adopt as a kind of “blogger code of ethics.” It’s important to remember that this is not simply about doing the right thing or behaving ethically, this is about retaining your audience. If people are confused about what’s paid for on your blog and what represents your true opinions, they get less value from your blog. Less value means less reason to read, less reason to subscribe. That means lower traffic. And if you’re trying to earn money from advertising, that means less revenue.

Link.