>>Tweet! Timeout! Off sides! I'd just like to clarify the context of our >>discussion here.<<
Thanks for the official clarification Ted. But I really think the difference between a service designed to pay hired people to blog about products, and individual or independent people blogging about products because some company sends them something (money, computers, free software, subscriptions to a service, etc.) is very little in the big picture. In my opinion it is splitting hairs. It was probably a mistake on my part for including it in the discussion, but conceptually I feel they are close cousins anyway. Someone getting paid for blogging/marketing without full disclosure. Bloggers including Scolble and Splosky have pioneered this and have disclosed things for a long time. They have lead the way and set the standard many of us in this industry can follow. Each have gone their own way. I respect both and read their posts frequently and learn much in the process. Maybe this is just the latest "growth" the new media needs to go through. After all, blogging is still in the infancy stage. People are still learning to walk in this new world and mistakes will be made in the process. I am beginning to weigh heavily the credibility and reputation factor the same way I did back in the late 90's when Advisor kept asking me to review products. I had written two reviews for them (one on the old Stonefield Query, and one on QBF Builder) which were both products I owned and used. They sent me several products to review and I told them I did not feel comfortable reviewing products I was not familiar with. I think this is an important factor. On the other hand, there are plenty of products I can learn more about in the process of researching them for use in my company, and for my clients who are also developers. Besides, I was taught a long time ago that you cannot believe everything you hear or read. This rule can be applied to bloggers and mainstream media alike. Rick White Light Computing, Inc. www.whitelightcomputing.com www.rickschummer.com 586.254.2530 - office 586.254.2539 - fax _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
