Comments on: Ethical Blogging: Blog Integrity Goes Hand-In-Hand

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:37:28 +0000

Don’t you know it

By: Jeremy G.

Jeremy G. — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:04:06 +0000

Holy crap, a year? Either you are one busy guy or one monsterous procrastinator!

Unfortunately, I am #2.

Jeremy G.’s last blog post..MTV: Pimp My Computer!

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:40:03 +0000

They don’t call it the (W)ild (W)ild (W)eb for nothing.

By: cookiemommie

cookiemommie — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:20:52 +0000

Thank you so much for your thoughtful, reasoned response. My engagement ceased with the e-mail to the editorial staff requesting full disclosure on each post. I haven’t received a response from Cookie Magazine, Hearst Publication, nor do I expect any. I must add, though, that having made the request, couched very simply, made ME feel much better. I do wish we had a “kinder, gentler” cyberworld where all would draw the line at targeting a toddler in the most vicious of verbal descriptions, whether hawked as “satire” or not, for marketing purposes.

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:39:07 +0000

Hi there. I’ve read it and I’m assuming that you are “cookiecrumbs”. Yes?

From reading Crabmommy’s blurb I don’t think you should be surprised with the response that you got:

“Becoming a parent doesn’t automatically make you selfless. She is mother.”

That pretty much says it all and I don’t think her blog is meant to be taken seriously. Blogs like this are written primarily for entertainment purposes and are not giving real-world advice.

When you take an opposing view to the reader you run the risk of being shot-down in flames by the reader and her groupy fans. It looks like that is what happened to you.

It’s been my experience the more that you engage with the flamers the more you will lose because they have all the advantage. The blog will have fans who are more than happy to come to the aid of the writer. The writer of the blog has an advantage because she can easily delete any comments that are favorable to her side to give a one-sided impression.

So it’s a proposition that you can’t win no matter how much you try to reason with them. Believe me when I say that I have had more than my share of online brouhahas and I still have the scars to prove it.

Having said that, when it comes to magazine/entertainment-style blogs you shouldn’t expect ethics any more than you would from reading the National Enquirer. It’s junk food for the brains.

I would also add that it is incumbent upon the blog to make it clear the writing is intended to be humorous, or in this case they seem to be pleading “satire”. I have written many satire posts myself, but I also made it clear by adding a “satire” and/or “humor” tag on the post.

In this case the blog did not make that clear and is perhaps a reason for the confusion. You might want to consider writing to the owner of the blog and ask them to do that in the future.

I hope this helps and don’t worry, we’ve all been where you are at one time or another. It’s just a part of the reality of living in the virtual world.

By: cookiemommie

cookiemommie — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:09:17 +0000

Hi, because I believed that surely there must exist such a thing as “blog integrity”, I hit Google and found you. I Recently happened across a blog on Cookie Magazine, which includes a forum for “mommy” and a link to the posts of Crabmommy. Curious, I read it and was appalled, shocked to my toes, horrified! Why?!?! Because this lady posted below-the-belt cheap shots at her three year old that she wouldn’t dare post towards someone her own size. So I added my negative comments. During the brou-haha that occurred, one of crabmommy’s supporters defended her by revealing “it was just a job” not reflective of her real relationship with her child. WELL!!! Soooo, that was even more revealing. Not only was this mom willing to sell-out her three year old (whether real or a farce) but the magazine is paying her to write these horrible posts. All of this has happened in the last two days - is it acceptable for a magazine to do this without disclosure? How patronizing, unscrupulous, and outright fraudulent will a business go to build an online customer base? Am I right in being absolutely outraged?!?!?

http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/crabmommy
POST & COMMENTS: When Mothers Attack

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:53:30 +0000

I resent they call themselves “pro” bloggers, i.e. professional. I consider myself a “professional” blogger because I’ve attained a level of expertise in blogging which is a far better use of the word in its truest sense.

Perhaps they should be called “money” bloggers, or even more appropriately “greed” bloggers.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:15:03 +0000

There are very few pro blogs that I read on a regular basis because, frankly, I find them boring. They are so tied to an agenda that they can’t write much that is interesting. The need to keep their sponsors happy and that results in self censoring what they write. I much prefer the folks like me who blog because they can and have fun at it. I don’t have to worry about upsetting anyone and that allows me to be more interesting. At least that’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it.

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:18:49 +0000

Thanks Curtis. This post has been sitting in draft mode for almost a year. I just never got around to publishing it until now.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:30:17 +0000

Very well put Bloke! Nice post.

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:17:40 +0000

It’s no different than the real world. People believing their own press.

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Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:58:06 +0000

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By: Mushfiqur Rahman

Mushfiqur Rahman — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:26:23 +0000

Nicely said Bloke. The so-called “probloggers” are so engrossed in their popularity that they tend to forget their humble beginnings and readers like us - with small personal blogs who blog just for fun. Without us there wouldn’t be anyone to read their blog. It is ironic, that long ago, they were just like us - small and obscure - yet they forget the fact.

By: Blog Bloke

Blog Bloke — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:36:31 +0000

BLOBS! I like it!

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:47:41 +0000

Thank you! The blog snobs forget that personal bloggers are the ones who started it all. The blog snobs (shall I call them blobs?) found the opportunity to make money and exploited it, some rather successfully. But I bet the personal bloggers like myself are the ones who get the most enjoyment out of blogging.