G'Mornin' fellas, and Julie, Too, too
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A thought that I have each morning, as I'm having my coffee is "Man, I really like my coffee -- hope my doc never takes it away".
I grind the beans fresh daily...
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That aside, in reading this morning's headlines, I see that the FTC has instituted new rules for bloggers.
It's interesting to hold witness to the passing of our once celebrated news anchors. They were the backbone of our news-centers.
Now, we rely on bloggers -- and why wouldn't we? It's not like there's *real* reporting otherwise.
The thing is, though, that just how ethical does a blogger *have* to be? What are the rules? Are there any guidelines? My thoughts tend to run the gamut on this...
What I've surmised is that the readership will decide -- and, well, the blogger - in particular - would be held to a higher standard, too. This standard? It's two part, in my opinion.
1. ego - we're a social people - and being social, we want people to like us.
2. financial - we don't hunt and pick berries anymore. We need $ to survive.
In the case of the former, the blogger *should* realize that in order to maintain readers - he/she must maintain a certain level of integrity - that is, to say...to have any level of longevity and to gain subscribers.
The latter is just as important, if not more so. Unless the blogger wants to continually come out of pocket for the 'service', there eventually has to be some level of financial support.
A lot of the these cats actually make real money.
Now, there have been plenty of times that I've read a blog & said to myself --- self, *that* was indeed a slanted piece. How on earth would that guy think that product X is better than product Y? He's gotta be getting paid - in some way!
Well, the FTC is here to save us...
It'll be quite interesting to see how this plays out.
Me? I'm really looking forward to seeing how bloggers and assorted "community/forum owners" acknowledge this new rule.
Additionally, I'm looking forward to seeing the new rules that will follow. Included in these, I'll be real interested to read how the IRS will list this stuff.
I can see myself calling up my accountant and informing him to mark me down as a blogger for 2010.
But anyway...here's the link
http://www.pcworld.com/article/17316...ick_guide.html
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