I’m a little irritated, just a little, and I know many of my co-workers and friends are feeling the same way over the new FTC rules.
According to the New York Times on October 5th:
The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock since birth, you KNOW celebrities get paid to endorse products. Reviewers? My husband has been reviewing movies for years, some get sent to him, some we pay for. Neither means they’re going to get any better of a review. I’ll write book reviews here or there. Usually, I’ve purchased them, but do the people reading my review really care? I don’t think so. Savvy net users, especially those on FB and Twitter are most likely used to using the Net to research anyway. They’re not going to take my word for it. They’ll go check it out.
So now, if I write a book review up here…I have to tell you guys whether I paid for it or got paid for it? If I want to throw out there, hey I love this software product, but by the way I liked it so much I set up advertising for it on the site?
Perhaps I’m irritated for nothing…when I write a review, I try to give the good and the bad, or what I think could work better (just ask @ScrvienerApp – love the product, paid for the product, and blogged about my frustrations) Yahoo Finance mentioned: To placate such fears, Cleland noted that the FTC’s enforcement priorities make it more likely an advertiser would be targeted for disclosure or testimonial violations than a blogger. The exception would be a blogger who runs a “substantial” operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.
I’m not sure that mollifies me any. Social media is different than traditional. I don’t have to give a disclosure to friends when I refer them somewhere. And yes, social media is blurring the lines between written and verbal communication. We’re blurring those lines on purpose because it’s allowing us to connect on a larger scale.
So, I suppose, in the interest of staying in line with the new ‘rules’ I’ll have to make sure everyone knows when/why/how I’m offering up reviews or recommendations.
