The "mommy blogger" backlash hit the front page of CNN.com today, as the PR Blackout Challenge and Blog With Integrity campaigns hit the mainstream media.  If you're not aware, some mommy bloggers are under fire for taking money and/or free merchandise for recommending products and services.  It's causing some people to question the ethics and truthfulness of the moms who are blogging today.  But according to the CNN article, some mom bloggers might just be overwhelmed with offers:


Barbara Jones is the founder and CEO of One2One Network, a public-relations firm specializing in marketing to women. She believes mommy bloggers often feel overwhelmed by PR pitches and don't know how to say no.



"Some bloggers just say 'yes' because they like being asked and like the stuff," she said. "But what they don't realize is that they are not going to lose opportunities or not be asked again if they are too busy or overloaded."

What do you think?  Are a few bad apples being, for lack of a better term, shills?  Do you find yourself less trustful of mom bloggers?





Showing the Latest of 6 Comments

ErinHattaway
2 yearss ago
The first thing that comes to mind when I read this is this year's BlogHer conference. I didn't go, but wanted to, and after reading the reviews...I'm glad I didn't.. People got VIOLENT to get some free stuff...and from what I hear a lot of the actual events were kind of lame. I'm sure there were amazing things there, too, but apparently you had to put up with some crap to get to it. I'm hoping next year the swaggatherers will stay home and it'll be a good time. Honestly, I think you CAN blog with integrity and get free stuff, too. It's all about being up front. "They sent me this free, I tried it, I didn't like it," or "I did like it, how about a giveaway???" I've been burned by companies before. I wrote this post after ebeanstalk sent me a toy and told me AFTERWARDS that they really didn't want a "review," they wanted a plug. So I sent their toy back. Seems to me if they want reviews, they should be sending out free stuff and getting honest answers. Not asking for the toy back when someone doesn't like how they handle business. I ended up spending $14 on what should have been a free review just to send their crap back to them overnight. And that's the cost of integrity. As for trusting mommy bloggers...you can see the difference pretty quickly. If you go to a site and you feel that there is some heart and soul there...it doesn't matter if she's getting some free stuff now and then and passing on some links. If you go and it's all about the stuff...and stuff you don't need/want...then just move on. The less we go to sites that seem cheap the more of them will disappear.
 
christine
2 yearss ago
Good post, Erin. I agree that it has a lot to do with being up front. There's nothing wrong with getting something as long as you honestly review it.
 
bwankel
2 yearss ago
Ok, couple of things. 1. A lot of mom bloggers are stay-at-home or work-at-home, and in this awful economy, many of them are trying to pad their income in any way they can. I almost fell prey to one of these offers too. They are EVERYWHERE. I fail to see how it's any different from advertising. And 2. It's not difficult to read a blog post and tell if it's coming from her real life or if she's being paid to say something good about a product. Call it critical thinking skills or call it skepticism, but I know who to trust and who not to trust.
 
Mindy
2 yearss ago
I totally didn't connect the blackout with all the PR requests in my inbox, that's how scattered and overwhelmed I am. Nice! Now I'm just glad there's a reason I can ignore them for a week. I have literally stacks of things, mostly books, next to my desk that have been sent to me, and they are jamming up my life like you wouldn't believe. Have to state a bit more strongly that I do not guarantee anything in the least, and the only stuff that gets mentioned is the stuff that thrills me and then only in the context of my life, writing as I normally do. I'm sorry we've become saturated with gimme bloggers, and I get too many requests for help "getting started" or "succeeding" to hope that it will die down soon. Those of us who have been doing this forever with no anticipation of readership much less free stuff sort of feel like the guys who made it to Cooperstown before everyone started using steroids. The measurements are all off and the wacky surges have made the old numbers meaningless. Then again I could be full of shit.
 
suburbanmummyuk
2 yearss ago
I must be living in a shoe box, Or the fact I'm in the UK and it seems blogging isn't such a massive thing here. I am not overwhelmed I have had no offers of anything lol I read a few mummy blogs and I don't feel like I can't trust them. But then I don't read any that have reviews on them.
 
sara lou who.
2 yearss ago
I think it all depends on the site. If it's a site that has info on how to send them the freebies, I raise and eyebrow. But, if it's a site that has an occasional recommendation then I will consider it valid. Reason being, I have never received any schwag and if I find a product that makes my life or my wee one's life better I totally blog about it. If something works I want to share because if it helps me it might help someone else. @Mindy: Maybe you guys should do a little episode about what it's like to blog for a living or as part of your living. I think people think it's easy money, but the lack of privacy, time commitment, etc. cannot be easy. I would also be interested to know if it changes the way you write or what you write about? Is it a really competitive business? Why did you start a blog? Just an idea...