Separation of Church and State
The question of church and state has been asked several times today. Well, not exactly church and state--I just thought it was a fun headline. The heart of the question is if critical editorial and advertising can truly co-exist on a consumer generated content site if it is an ad based model? Here is the exact question I have responded to several times today...
"Jolie, will you ask contributors to supress their negative opinions of a product or service if that same advertiser is buying placement on www.viewpoints.com?"
My bottom line answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT.
In the world of consumer generated content, it is critical to maintain an absolute divide between editorial and advertising. Writers must feel as though they are contributing to a site or platform that allows them to openly express their views-- both good and bad. My hard line opinion is that if we supressed content from our writers, we would lose credibility in the market. So, no, the world is your oyster. With one caveat, of course. Despite strong feelings of dislike for a product or service, I would argue that there is never a time to be mean spirited or disrespectful. Writers opinions are always well-received when they are objective, succinct, truthful AND respectful. So, if you have a really negative experience, I suggest sleeping on it for a night before you decide to write a review. Take a step back and try and provide objective and insightful commentary.
13 comments:
Hey, am I first? I think so. Woo-hoo! First comment. Yes!
Thanks for clarifying that. It will only need to be said a few thousand more times, I think.
Here's another question though: What do you think of the news that some Top Amazon reviewers get paid by manufacturers and publishers to plant favorable reviews? Do you have a policy dealing with that? And how would it be policed?
Just keeping you busy.
Thanks again,
Anne
I meant if it happened at Viewpoints. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
Disturbing... A good blogging topic for tomorrow! :)
I must say I have never written anything with the thought of any advertisement. I know people who have gotten nasty letters from a company but that's the company's problem.
If they are making a bad product or providing a bad service it's our responsibility to make sure people know.
Just a point I wanted to make. I'll try to make it short. I was in Starbucks a couple of years ago. I found out that the iced coffee has syrup in it. No where on the board is that indicated. Not only are some people allergic to that syrup but on Passover for example many wouldn't use it so they might be ingesting it without knowing. I was furious as was my daughter who has not had any kind of sugar in years.
I wrote a review.
They contacted me. They apologized. They assured me that they would make sure the use of syrup was indicated.
We each got gift certificates to Starbucks and the last time I was in this Starbucks (and others) I noticed Shaken Iced Coffee. That's the key. The word shaken had not been on the board. Now it was and it was through my review that the consumer can now buy what they think they are buying.
It's good to know that corporate censorship through sponsorship will not be tolerated. For a site like this to be successful, the integrity of the writers and their reviews must be unquestioned.
Hi Jolie - Great blog. You're clearly working up a storm.
My bottom line is that I tell consumers what I'd tell someone in my family or one of my friends.
That's rarely been a problem. There was one writer who did tell me that God would curse me and my family. I don't think he liked my review (-:
Quick note . . .
When I click the button to sign up for alerts, it does not let me do that.
Also, I'm Cyndi (-: I'm not sure why one of my blogs is picking up as my name. I will check on that.
Thanks Jo-- Love your Starbucks story!
Cyndi- I checked the feed and it seems to work for me... anyone else having problems?
I'll save my snarky comments for my reality show reviews. ;-)
Seriously, though, I think it's great to set that precedent now, so that from the very start we won't have that fear of posting the wrong thing.
I agree with what was said before about telling the public what they want to know. That's how you connect with them, and build their trust. If they read you being honest, they'll be more likely to trust your opinions in the future.
I imagine we can expect to see plenty of shill reviews by PR people once Viewpoints is well known, but a high profile member would effectively trash their reputation if they did the same. As huge as the internet is, news travels instantly. An untrustworthy reviewer would have a hard time coming out from under that stigma. Hopefully, that is a big enough deterrant by itself, but I'm also curious if there is a policy for policing it.
Jessica
(D'oh, when you delete your post so you can edit it, Blogger makes a note of it? Bah. :)
Anyway, here's the corrected version...
Great blog! I have received nasty comments from people associated with a product I've reviewed negatively, but it's never stopped me from reviewing. Something has to be so bad that I just want to warn others not to make the same mistake I did, for me to write a review.
I once was chastised by a person claiming to be the inventor of an ASOTV product that I gave a low rating to in a review, telling me I simply wasn't reflecting the product's greatness accurately. I guess he was upset because he thought it was the greatest invention since sliced bread. :-)
Don't forget you can also deal with not just the maker of the product, but also other uses that might disagree with you.
While I've mainly done entertainment reviews, I put my email at the bottom of my reviews, because I want that connection. I want that other opinion. I always say my goal is to make the reader feel, think, and maybe laugh. And if they take the time to email me, I know I affected them somehow.
Sometimes there's people that disagree with my opinion on a show, and they want to let me know, which is great. When I try to re-address the opposing view, they can sometimes get upset with me, saying they thought I left my email to hear others opinions. Yeah, I did. But, I also thought when you emailed me it was okay for me to address you back. I just like to connect.
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