It’s not often that this geek girl gets up on her soapbox, but something needs to be said.
Yesterday some big changes came down the pike in regards to the FTC and guidelines regarding reviewing of material on blogs.
Because we here at the G33K Project on occasion like to talk about the cool new stuff we’ve found, this has bearing to what we’re doing. Simply put, the FTC is requiring now for bloggers to disclose when they receive an item free to review. But also (and no one seems to be paying much attention to this) to point out that when we review something and include say an Amazon link so that our readers can buy the product, that this too needs disclosure. Let’s face it, those little Amazon links are usually through associate programs that could potentially generate an income for the blogger.
What amazes me in this micromanaged world, is that anyone feels the need to regulate this at all. I know someone with a large website with considerable traffic. He says in the space of a year, his Amazon links generated somewhere around $80. While I’m sure some people out there might be making real money from reviews, I’m personally not seeing why this has to be such a fuss.
Does anyone besides me feel this is all just a touch Big Brother?
Well, I am not adverse to reviewing things over here at G33K Project like I do on other blogs. And honestly, if anyone wanted to give me something free (anime companies are you listening? * looks up hopefully *) I would certainly disclose from this point on where I got it. Because the way I see it, a review is not an endorsement, I have the freedom to say “this stinks” as much as I do “this rocks!” And I think my readers are smart enough to see the difference and not care where I got the item from.
(OK, I have to say it...I found the image on a website dedicated to conspiracy theories. There is some STRANGE stuff out there...but by posting this, just how many government agencies just put me on The List?)
That’s just my two cents worth. What do YOU think?
2 comments:
Echelon Echelon Big-Brother Government NSA
Conspiracy Armstrong Kennedy Oswald
Ok, all the keywords are out of the way, Big Brother is reading it now!
The question comes up, who will police and enforce this on the interwebs? What about endorsements with legit-looking credentials that simply lead to a random.blogger@gmail.com address? Gov't agencies can't sit still, they spend and interfere. Another sad day.
I really don't see the need for something like this. It's USELESS.
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