It looks like the sky is falling again.

Yesterday the FTC announced 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.”  Immediately bloggers, Twitterers, and Message board trolls whipped themselves into a fervor over the regulations announced by the FTC. 

I don’t get it.

Do people not read anymore? Has it really come to a point where people take a headline and run with their anti-whatever mentality without actually reading the issue/article/ruling/judgment for themselves to see if they even disagree?  Just because you may sit on one side of the political pyramid doesn’t mean that you automatically agree or disagree with a statement or ruling based on whether something is said by a governing body or not.  We rail against people who don’t think before they vote, or who don’t bother to get the facts when it comes to an election, so why is it any different when it comes to regulations?  We’ve become a country of knee jerk reactionists who want everything to fall in line with our personal ideologies, and if it doesn’t, regardless of the inherent value of the idea, it’s wrong and bad, and it will cause your children to grow up godless and destitute—or worse yet, as humanitarians or socialists!  FOR SHAME!

I honestly expected more from the Social Media community.  Maybe I was naive.

First, read the damn ruling. 

The first three sections review the commission’s examination of the guides, the comments on proposed revisions by interested representative parties, and then gives a description of each change to proposed guides published in 2008.  The comments (section II) are worth reading.  The revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising are section IV.  They start on page 55. READ THEM.

Second, establish whether your argument is based on puffed up political ego for the sake of making a point, or on the actual issue of deceitful practices.  If you just want to grandstand about a political viewpoint, please move along… nothing left for you to see here… If you have a blog, if you’ve ever reviewed something that was sent to you by a company, if you aren’t sure where you stand because you don’t know how it effects you, then please continue reading.

Where do you fall?  Why does it matter?  What is the purpose of your blog?  Is reviewing X Product/s the primary purpose of the blog? Do you consistently receive products (in my case, books) to review?  Is the editorial independence of your blog clear if you are not endorsing a company/product? Are reviews likely to be negative as well as positive?

Are you a blogger who has joined a pay-per-post community?  Are you part of a “group” that is compensated by companies to endorse (speak highly of their product regardless of perceived value/quality) their product?  Do you receive “gifts” because you are part of a blogging network or community in the hopes that you’ll tell your readers how wonderful a product is (i.e. free advertisement and “word of mouth” endorsement based on your perceived trust level with your readers)?  Do you routinely review products from the same company positively in order to continue receiving comp products in exchange for your visible approval of their company/product?  Do your readers know that the car you just got, or the phone you’re raving about was given to you with the understanding that you would tell them how glorious it was whether you felt that way or not?

Like it or not, the FTC is forcing companies and bloggers to be ethical in their interactions with their consumers.  It’s not about censorship or telling bloggers what to say or what not to say.  It’s about fair practice and ethics.  The government isn’t dictating what you can or can’t say on your blog.  Anyone who sees that clearly isn’t reading the document.  It’s about fair business and advertising practice.  It’s about stopping companies and individual bloggers who are profiting off of their readership & consumer base through deceitful means.  If you receive “gifts” or “comps” from companies to review and your review is as likely to be negative as it is positive, and your readership is aware of this, that’s one thing.  If your blog is a personal blog dedicated to the life of your prize beagle, and Alpo begins sending you products for free with the understanding that you will continue receiving these products as long as you speak highly of the company, and you never disclose that relationship or business transaction (and it IS a business transaction) to your audience then you are misleading them.  Would your readers think differently of the value of your opinion on those products if they knew of your arrangement? 

Look, if you want to shill for a company, that’s fine.  If you want to play in the Pay-Per-Post pool, that’s fine too.  But do NOT make waves about being considered a BRAND and then balk when you’re expected to follow the same ethics and standards that businesses are expected to follow.  If you have nothing to hide, then why the big fuss about the disclaimer?  Well… if you receive a car, or a computer, or a trip around the world and then rave about the magnificence of the car, computer, and travel company and you never disclose it as a “gift”…  or as a “business transaction,” well then, it’s not just your audience that you have to worry about, now is it? 

IRS anyone?

Tags: FTC, rants, Social Commentary, social media

Yeah. It’s like that.

So my mind is all over the place, and rightfully so I suppose.  I’m busy.  Crazy  busy.  I’d rather be busy than not, but I prefer to ease in to major change and that’s just not happening.  So, in short, my mind is constantly running on multiple tracks, and the strange paths that the trains take are oftentimes as much as surprise to me as they’d be to you.  And the trains run super fast, y’all.  Here’s just an example of my train/s of thought this morning between home and work.  Gather and surmise:

What would the world be like without the snooze button?  I’d likely get better sleep.  I’d stop being lazy and laying in bed only to continually hit the damned snooze button three, four, maybe even five times.  I wonder how many accidents are caused by people who hit the Snooze button one too many times leaving them in a mad state of hurry to get wherever they’re going.  I wonder how many Snooze button addicts have to drag themselves out of bed only to be lazy for the rest of the day, and miserable because the “snooze” sleep they’re getting isn’t as good or restful as real sleep.  You know those are the people with road rage (ahem). You know those are the people who are irritable when the drive thru attendant screws up their order, even though they’ve been going there for well over 6 months ordering relatively the same thing.  I wonder how my quality of live would improve if I got rid of the snooze button.  I need to adopt one of these bad boys:

Clocky Alarm Clock on Wheels

This little guy can jump 3 feet (I don’t know if “jump” is the right word) from your nightstand and roll around the room “looking for a place to hide,” thus you are forced to get your lazy ass out of bed to find it and shut it off.  I have a feeling the sound of wheels and motors would stop me from falling back to sleep, but hey. 

If I hear “Death Panel” fear-mongering in my presence, someone’s getting slapped in the mouth.  I’m currently waiting to hear from my doctor about whether or not my insurance (very good, very expensive insurance) will cover an MRI of the golf ball sized lump on the back of my neck (the doctor kindly worded it as “Posterior Neck Tumor”… quaint, no?).  It’s not calloused or growing arms or a face or anything, but what I thought was a bulging disc, or a muscle knot is apparently neither.  The fact is, the doctor doesn’t know exactly what it is and she seemed concerned about it because it’s directly over my spine on the back of my neck (a suspicious location and size).  That didn’t make me feel better.  Neither did she when she told me that we’d have to wait to see if my insurance would cover the MRI.  Apparently it’s not enough for a doctor to suggest a test (or series of tests).  The business men sitting on the other side of my insurance card with a checklist of possible payment loopholes gets to decide whether or not it’s “medically necessary.”  Insurance is a business and businesses exist to make money, not to hand it out (a.k.a. pay for tests that may or may not be “medically necessary,”  something only determined by businessmen  whose interest is in their business.  GET IT?  Death Panels my ass.  Open your damn eyes.

The left lane is the passing lane, not the “fast” lane.  If you’re driving in the left lane, and you’re being passed on the right, other drivers should be able to shoot out your tires, egg your car as they pass you, or pull you aside for a stern talking-to.  How do people not know this?  If you’re afraid to go faster than the cars around you, get in the other lane!  You shouldn’t be in the passing lane to begin with!  I wish there were technology where every car were equipped with a screen, and every license plate had its own Twitter account, and that screen showed (in real time) comments from other drivers around you.  Think about the joy that could bring.  (I’m intentionally ignoring the negative, though we all know it’s there).  It could be useful — @GRB 4229 Your gas tank is open.  @1337 GRL Your skirt is stuck in the door and collecting mud.  See?  Useful.

I’m glad I’m not in Pittsburgh for the G20 Summit.  I’m glad my mother and grandmother are coming to visit during that period.  I’m not glad that my dad has to stay holed up at Mellon Institute (CMU) for those days because of what they’re expecting.  It’s scary stuff.  He’s been through it all before, but the G20 is something that raises the hackles of everyone within a 10 mile proximity.  I am honestly more concerned with Pittsburghers stepping out into neighborhoods and mobbing the protesters or “Anarchists” (yes, that’s in quotes.  Yes it’s intentional.  Yes the quotes are necessary.) through vigilante style means of “law & order bringing.”  I’ve seen it before.  I hope everything remains calm and I hope that protesters remain peaceful and respectful (though what protest, in theory, respects anything, I wonder).  I wish they could all be like this amazing Flash Mob at Point Park.  Now if that’s the way these groups are going to protest you could monetize that thing to death! (Ha… get it?)

I am pleased that my experiment of mixing Cheerios in yogurt in the morning (instead of milk) was a success. It’s a magnificent breakfast that eliminates the need to dump a pound of sugar into the bowl!  And it’s more filling!  Score!

Blackest Night #3 disappointed me.  Review to be posted.  (And news along with it — WOO!)

BBL, y’all…

Tags: DC Comics, Food, HCR, Social Commentary, Updates

~*~

CONFESSION

I was never a fan of John Hughes’ films.  I didn’t go ga-ga over Pretty in Pink, and I didn’t have any deep connection with Sixteen Candles.  Christmas Vacation  always made me leave the room, and the Home Alone movies were never on my shelf.  I didn’t understand the humor of The Great Outdoors. 

My friends and family members all rave about these films as though they are cinematic classics, but I’ve never once felt compelled to watch any of them more than my initial viewing.  The only Hughes movies that I had any connection with were Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  and The Breakfast Club – even those connections were tangential. 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  was a passing teaching reference for me (”Bueller?… Bueller?…. Anyone?…. Bueller?….”) and once my students no longer had a clue what I was talking about, I knew I had moved in to that “old” category that young kinds always lump everyone making references they don’t understand regardless of their age. 

I never understood why my senior class thought The Breakfast Club was important enough to make it the focus of our Senior Act, and to use “Don’t You” as our Senior Song.  I some how missed the entire phenomenon, and my tastes were just…. different.  Those movies weren’t serious enough for me at the time, and I thought they were one long string of cliches.  Only in retrospect do I realize that those movies created  those respective cliches and rolled around and reveled in the prevalent theme of the decade in the same way that Noir and Kung-Fu films did.  Now I can appreciate that.

WE’LL KNOW WHEN WE GET THERE

Because of Alison, I also appreciate John Hughes on a completely different level than I ever imagined I would.  His movies tapped in to the nuances of family, friends, absurd situations, Murphy’s Law, and the misunderstood teen angst that he depicted so perfectly on screen.  Part of that teenage experience was dreaming of a future, of having grand ideas and trying to balance them with reality and figuring out how to beat the odds to get where you want to go.  Nearly all of his characters dreamed of finding someone that took the time to understand them and recognize the potential they had.

When the people around you don’t understand you or what you want to do (There’s that “misunderstood trope again…), reaching out to an idol or icon (I don’t even know what you call them these days) in the vain hopes that they will see your brilliance and reach back to acknowledge your burgeoning brilliance and offer you encouragement is not uncommon.  I wrote to astronauts.  I wrote to scientists.  I wrote to playwrights.  I wrote to authors, and I even once wrote to a serial killer while on my career path to being a criminal/abnormal psychologist and profiler.  (In retrospect, I’m really glad I had the address for the penitentiary written wrong and the letter was returned.  Who needs to open the can of crazy that could bring?) 

To this day, I dream of writing to Al Pacino in regards to his fascination with Shakespeare and his production of plays and film, and having him see the value I could bring to his projects.  Will it happen?  Not likely.  But I respect him for the creative and professional choices he has made.  Will I write to him? Probably not — only because, Like Alison, I would hate to receive a form letter in response. 

But she recoiled, and responded with her indignation, and what bloomed from that was a pen-pal friendship between one of the (if not THE) most famous writers/directors/producers of the 80s.  He gained perspective, and she had a mentor and a connection with the artist who crafted the works that defined her youth while she was growing up.

In my opinion, John Hughes’ greatest works weren’t his ones on screen;  they were the letters he wrote to Alison.  In those letters of encouragement, guidance, and friendship he conveyed the understanding and hope that the characters in his films were always searching for.  His letter writing over the years renews some of my faith in people.  He had a heart breaking kindness, and though I never knew him, I can say that the world was a better place for him being in it.

~*~

Tags: Alison, Film, John Hughes, Letters, Social Commentary