Social Media, Honesty and the FTC Guidelines

So the much-vaunted Federal Trade Commission guidelines for social media came into play today. There’s been a lot said about them on both sides of the fence, with plenty bloggers offering their views for and against. Some say it will inhibit free speech, while others applaud the FTC for getting involved.

Whatever your stance, one thing that is abundantly clear is that it’s not that big a deal.

So what if the FTC have turned their gaze towards social media, and bloggers in particular? There’s a key word that everyone should already be adhering to anyway.

Honesty.

No-one likes a liar, and even less so if it’s lies tied around advertising. This is where both publishers and advertisers can take the sting out of the new FTC rulings.

If you’re a blogger and you receive goods for review, or in lieu of a promotional campaign, then be honest and say so. Disclose – don’t assume that every reader already knows you’re worthy of our trust. And have a Disclosure Page with all your current affiliations.
If you’re an advertiser and you offer a blogger a product for review, make sure that it’s part of the agreement that they’re upfront about it. It’s not just the blogger that’ll get crapped on if it comes out your review was paid for and it wasn’t disclosed.

Think of it as your business. Would you lie to your customers? Would you put money over how you treat those that make you successful?

A blogger’s customers are his or her readers. While they might not pay us for our posts, they sure as heck invest more than their value in time when they read, comment and share our posts.

And an advertiser’s customers – well, that’s pretty obvious, but at the end of the day they still need to be treated with the utmost respect and honesty. Just because you can hide behind a blogger doesn’t mean you have carte blanche to shit in the store.

So.

FTC and social media = good thing and nothing to worry about. As long as you’re honest.

Thing is, shouldn’t it already be this way?

photo credit: arimoore

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TJ Dietderich

I am lucky to work with book bloggers who know that the story behind how they decided to read a book is as important as the book review itself. Long before these FTC guidelines, the majority of my book bloggers would say in their review, "I received this book free of charge to review" or "I have a large pile of ARCs to review, but this cover caught my eye when the publicist showed it to me." It's not a big deal at all, and it was something really stellar bloggers were doing anyway in their storytelling.
.-= TJ Dietderich´s most recent blog post ...You didn’t charge me enough =-.

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Jackie Adkins

Danny, I agree that it shouldn't be too difficult to comply with the guidelines, especially when you're talking about a product you're reviewing, or something of that nature. Where it gets a little dicey for me is when you're expected to disclose say a gift you received at a conference you attended, or a conference you attended and spoke at where they picked up your tab. They aren't paying you to write about it, but they paid for it and you ARE writing about it.

So I guess there are some sort of gray areas if you want to be nitpicky, but for me, I'd always recommend that someone stay on the cautious side. If you think you may need to disclose something, it can never hurt to do so.
.-= Jackie Adkins´s most recent blog post ...Why Should I Care About Your Product? =-.

work and travel

Is there any information about this subject in other languages?

Danny

Because the FTC only affects the U.S., I haven't seen any translations, if that's what you mean? Otherwise, it's up to the regulatory bodies in other countries to implement, if that was their intention.

I am lucky to work with book bloggers who know that the story behind how they decided to read a book is as important as the book review itself. Long before these FTC guidelines, the majority of my book bloggers would say in their review, "I received this book free of charge to review" or "I have a large pile of ARCs to review, but this cover caught my eye when the publicist showed it to me." It's not a big deal at all, and it was something really stellar bloggers were doing anyway in their storytelling.
.-= TJ Dietderichu00c2u00b4s most recent blog post ...You didnu00e2u0080u0099t charge me enough =-.

The great thing about these bloggers, TJ, is that they probably won't bat an eyelid at the new regulations. It's where the "I like this book, honestly" comes in because it's been provided with a bunch of others free, but nothing's said...

Should be a fun few early months. :)

So I guess there are some sort of gray areas if you want to be nitpicky, but for me, I'd always recommend that someone stay on the cautious side. If you think you may need to disclose something, it can never hurt to do so.
.-= Jackie Adkinsu00c2u00b4s most recent blog post ...Why Should I Care About Your Product? =-.

Agreed, better safe than sorry, Jackie.

Thing is, though, the minute they pick up your tab, you're being "paid" by them because flights and hotels could run into thousands of dollars.

Some people will be swayed by that and gush over how great the event was when in truth it was a turd ball. Others will be more open and say, "The event was crap, but Brand X gave me a pretty cool product, which was a nice surprise."

I think once any compensation comes in, in any form, it changes the rules and that needs to be reflected.

Cheers for stopping by and sharing your view mate, always appreciated.