Comments on: Thoughts on Disclosure Policies for Bloggers (and My Policy)

By: human3rror

human3rror — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:40:06 +0000

ooh. i like that. authenticity policy.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:29:21 +0000

Yes, I heard about disclosure policies for the first time in a college class three years ago. At the time, I thought, "Yeah, I should definitely put one of those on my blog, even if I don't have to, just to show off my authenticity. :>) But of course I never did. I kept kicking myself for that because I could have been way ahead of the game instead of waiting until someone makes me do it.

Anyway, I recently did create one – actually I called it an Authenticity Policy – last week. I had fun with it, but I'm sure I'll update it shortly. I know there are already some things I left out (a link to FTC for example). Thanks for the update here. I saw the Problogger post and used it to help write mine, but I enjoy seeing more conversation about it and its implications.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: human3rror

human3rror — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:07:06 +0000

FTC = FCC…?

just kidding. yes, it's very fluid. it is what it is.

By: Phillip Gibb

Phillip Gibb — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:03:31 +0000

It seems all a bit too liquid to me. With so much personalization attached it will leave a lot up to interpretation.
Personally I think the FCC should provide a few more rigid options that could be linked to like Creative Commons on feedburner.
But I think it is important to be honest in your intentions to your reading in the more personal form of the disclosure.

By: human3rror

human3rror — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:01:05 +0000

adam, you're on top of things. love it.

i can always count on you.

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Blogging Discloser Policies @ — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:50:10 +0000

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By: @adamrshields

@adamrshields — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:08:35 +0000

I wrote my own policy on my blog a few weeks ago and I think they are good to have, whether the FCC requires them or not. So I agree with you there. My problem is that the rules themselves are bad. Either there should be disclosure rules or they should apply to everyone. Instead, we have rules that only apply to those that affect the smallest number of people. The large blogs that affect a lot of people and need similar rules, are owned by corporations have lobbyist that helped to get the rules written in a way that exempts them.

But what I do think people should know is that those large blogs that promote something are more likely, not less likely to have a promotional deal.

The other issue that I wrote about on my blog is that advertisers and producers might stop working with small bloggers for fear of a FCC violation. So the Thomas Nelson Blogger program and other fairly innovative programs that focus on the small blogger, but don't have control over the actual content, may be replaced with large advertising agreements with large blogs where the company or ad agency actually has control over the content. That would actually end up with a worse situation than what we have now. All the small guys loose their income and ad revenue and the large guys have no disclosure requirements and all the ad money.

By: human3rror

human3rror — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:55:07 +0000

i think your reading is true. this could degenerate, though, from some conversations around the web, into a "letter of the law" and "intent".

i think though it's better to have one regardless, and it provides value to the readers. just because I don't have to do it doesn't mean that I shouldn't, especially if it does create more value and is helpful, right?

By: @adamrshields

@adamrshields — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:44:24 +0000

I agree with the idea that we should be transparent. I am transparent about my book reviews on my site. But what I don't like about the guidelines is that they don't apply to the largest blogs. If you are owned by a corporation or are a full time blogger then the guidelines seem to exempt you. So it is only the small guys, the mom bloggers and those that really aren't getting enough in financial support to make much of a difference that are caught in the guidelines. There are a few blogs like this one that have a good number of followers and are in that middle ground. If you organized this blog as a business and have the ownership of the blog under the organization and not you as a person then you are arguably not bound by the rules. (My understanding of the rules are from reading a couple articles from EFF and other commentary so I may be completely wrong.)

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:05:18 +0000

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