Should Bloggers Disclose When a Tweet, Facebook Post or Pin is “Sponsored”?

There is no doubt about it that blogs/bloggers continue to be influential, and blogger relations should be considered as part of a company’s marketing/public relations plan. There is also no doubt about it that blogger relations continues to be the Wild West.

Many bloggers have made blogging a full time job. They are looking to secure advertising dollars for not only digital ads, but also product reviews, Facebook posts, Twitter posts and Pinterest posts. Companies see the value in bloggers writing/posting
tweeting/pinning about their products and services and are willing to pay for coverage.

While the FTC did update its guidelines in 2009 requiring bloggers to be transparent when being paid or given product for reviews, this hasn’t really cleared up the blogger transparency issue. And as more social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) are added to the mix, the lines continue to get blurred.

So while you are seeing “sponsored posts” on Facebook and “promoted” Twitter posts, users and hashtags, this doesn’t incorporate when bloggers are tweeting, pinning or posting sponsored content.

Having a journalism degree and having it ingrained in my head that advertising and editorial are always kept separate (although we can debate that too), there is a very interesting ethical discussion all us PR and marketing practitioners should be having with bloggers about this.

While journalists pride themselves on the separation of editorial and advertising, bloggers have a different motive, and in the end it’s the consumer that will likely suffer.