Blogging transparency is mostly BS. And that’s good.
- Image by DavidErickson via Flickr
Edit note: I know some folks are going to say I’m missing the point or I’m redefining the term.
I’m writing this because I feel like it has to be said. Blogger transparency is mostly bull squeeze.
Fellow bloggers, you may feel open and transparent but you can’t escape who you are – a person. And that means you’re a complicated mess of contradictions, illogical instincts, and sub-conscious emotions.
Sure, we all put on our blogs where we work, who are clients are, and that we’ve got Amazon affiliate links here or there. That’s all dandy. But it’s all pretty damn obvious that you work at places that have clients and if you link a book or review a camera, you might wanna make 50 cents.
What I’m writing about now are prejudices that we all have that are not so obvious. The stuff we can’t escape because of who we are and how we’ve lived our lives. How we were raised, the economic conditions we face, our families, race and religion. Or even the things other people have done to us. These things shape our perspective on life and the world around us. That also shape how we think.
Sometimes this is negative. What happens to us makes us narrow minded, inflexible in our thinking and intolerant of other’s perspectives. Just try reading a political blog or two.
But sometimes it’s great. It creates the edge we have that makes what we write more interesting than a fact-only piece written by the AP. And it fills a blog’s content with passion, insights and maybe a few curse words. Let’s face it, if you weren’t different than me, with your own biases and peculiarities, I probably wouldn’t be all that interested in what you had to say.
This gooey stuff is what makes people who they are. But is it really none of anyone else’s business? On a professional blog? And should every blog post with “I was born to a South Carolina share cropper and robbed a convenience store when I was 14″? Or “I had a daddy who was an alcoholic but I was a cheerleader and captain of the debate team”? It’s personal, but it’s also the stuff that could informs the way someone writes and the opinions they have – which is what blogging is all about.
And what about politics, religion, parenting and social affectations. Does stuff belong in the workplace? Opinions differ on this, so it differs on whether it belongs on and appears on one’s blog.
To be transparent and truly understand one’s motives, is this stuff is important? I think it is on many issues. And do you really think people would discuss issues as freely if they were completely and totally open about their pasts and their burdens? I doubt it. And that’s why I’m OK with opaque.
I’m not saying basic disclosure shouldn’t be defacto – I should know if you’re speaking about your client. I’m just getting a little sick of people telling me how transparent and unbiased they are and how I can trust everything they say to be fact because they let me know who they take money from. You know what? I should be able to trust you that you’re telling the truth. And advertisers generally get sued when they say something that isn’t true or intentionally misleading. So get over it already.
What do you think?
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Loose you inhibitions
My 3 year old had a ballet recital this weekend. It was awesome. 20 little girls just throwing it all out there for the sheer joy of doing something they enjoy. Big smiles on their faces and having the time of their short lives.
Ballet is new to them and they’re finding great joy in it. However, the longer us adults do something the more inhibited we become. We’re afraid to show that we’re amateurs and end up paralyzed.
But the fact is, most of us are amateurs at social media. Even the media professionals are. They may spend the day working on old media but they too are fish out of water when it comes to blogging. And even though social media is part of my job, it’s constantly changing, putting me and any participant on a perpetually steep learning curve. A curve that I embrace – it keeps things interesting.
So why not loose your inhibitions a bit in this space? Reach out, engage and be creative. Be that three year old just doing it for the joy of it. How can you make a fool of yourself if we’re all still learning?
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What I learned at BlogWell Atlanta
I’ve already posted on the 10,000 foot view, so I wanted to get at about what I actually learned BlogWell Atlanta.
Andy Sernovitz had some important points on ethics and disclosure. He outlined dangers to a brand of not having clear, legal agreements with vendors acting on a brand’s behalf and opined that the new FCC guidelines a positive development for the industry. His belief is that social media will be much better served by government policing than it would by being allowed to evolve on its own the way email did.
There were some compelling BtoB stories. Orange and SunGuard had showed how social media benefited their bottom line through providing helpful information to clients and potential clients.
Also there was a terrific UPS crisis management story. And I enjoyed hearing about Coca-Cola’s Expedition 206 campaign.
But what did I really learn there? That there’s a vibrant community of professionals trying to figure this social media thing out. That it lives beyond the blogs and tweets. That people are engaged, smart, and want to do the right thing. And frankly that’s damn refreshing place to be compared to discussions about direct mail, email marketing, or print advertising. People really are seeing a brighter horizon in this space while in traditional marketing the world is shrinking.
So even if Twitter does turn out to be a stupid fad, I think social media is a pretty great space to be in.
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Pay for tweet seems a lot like borrowed interest
One of the first things you learn as a copywriter is that borrowed interest is a lame way to engage a consumer. What is borrowed interest? It is borrowing interest from a celebrity or something perceived as interesting, like skateboards or superheros and attaching it to a product with no logical tie. Sex may have a lot to do with a lingerie but skateboards have nothing to do with orange juice.
Now I believe Catherine Zeta-Jones uses a telephone. But I don’t believe she knows anymore about cellphone service than most people. Men may watch Catherine slink across the screen and maybe even think it’s a good spot, but do they really believe her words anymore then the would an unknown actress? Not likely. They may listen, but awareness is another topic.
Borrowed interest worked great in the 50’s. But after awhile people noticed that if celebrities were paid enough they’d whore themselves out for any product under the sun.
What does a band leader have to do with a "luxury trailer"?
Anyone wanna guess if Michael Jackson ever rode a Honda Scooter around LA?
The strength of social media is about people connecting and informing each other what they really think. Transparency aside, a tweeter paid per tweet about rattle on about deodorant, or cars, or computers doesn’t seem like brand advocacy.
Sure, there are celebrities that people should listen to. @lancearmtrong is one I follow on Twitter and someone I wrote an Oakley ad for in 1996 when he was a former world champion headed to the Olympics. And just before being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He used and still uses the product. Could there possibly be a better advocate for cancer research or the athletic gear he actually uses? My step mother who is recovering from breast cancer finds what he’s done and, and is doing inspirational. Now that’s a brand advocacy.
The best brand advocates aren’t paid for their tweets. They’re people who believe in a product and are sponsored and use it like Armstrong or Tiger Woods who both use Nike. Or they are the thousands of people that use a product and advocate for it everyday. Ever talked to a Harley owner about Japanese vs American?
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