New Blogging Rules Micromanagement by FTC
October 5, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Tutorials and Basics
You guys know I am such a freaking rebel. I know you do. I am really frustrated about the blogging rules from the FTC and here’s why.
Does the government really have to control everything we do? Seriously, being micromanaged makes me grumpy. You know I review things on my blog. I will say, “so…xyz sent me a cookbook for review” …Honestly someday I would like to say “Lowes sent me an entire kitchen for review!” but so far it is a dream that dissipates with the cold light of day.
Because you read my blog, interact with me on twitter, are fans on facebook, and maybe even read some of my other stuff you know that I am not going to say I like something if I don’t. In fact, if you read Kettle and Cup regularly you know I am durn hard to please. The idea that I have to spend valuable minutes thinking about whether or not I have fully disclosed that an item was given to me free for review just irritates me. I write about 5-8 articles a day, each being about 650 words long. Do the math. BLAH.
You also know that I despise big governments with lots of regulations and rules. To me people will do things because they are the right thing to do or they won’t. No, I don’t believe in government control of too much of anything. Stay out of my business. Run the country, let the states run the states, let the city municipalities run themselves…micromanagement sucks the life out of people and governments.
If the government wants to really micromanage something they should start with the Congress. Let’s just talk about full disclosure for a little bit, shall we? Special interest groups and corporations run our government not the people’s representatives. We vote them in and trust that they know what they are doing. Maybe some of them should use full disclosure and get a tattoo that says, ” I know….NOTHING”
You can’t protect people from their own stupidity. If I say:
You guys…I got this great new ingredient from ACME ..it’s called Cow Poop Marinade. It is awesome on steaks and burgers.
You aren’t going to be dumb enough to go out an buy it are you? And just because I say I liked something doesn’t mean you are going to like it anyway, right?
So now, we have more laws. Moses couldn’t get the Israelites to follow 10 laws and we have about a million, including laws about things the government has no business being involved with….Like blogging.
Don’t take anyone’s word for anything. Try it for yourself. Make your own choices and decisions and then if you make the wrong one? No whining, no victimization, no poor me…suck it up and move on.
Yeah…I am going to comply…I always have before there was a law. But I am doing it because I WANT TO…NOT because they TOLD me to. Just want to get that straight. If there is something reviewed on this blog I am sent the item, gratis, and I give you my opinion…also gratis. I have never been asked to send anything back..and I am not sure I would review something I did not get to keep. So..now you know.
oh and the image? I got it from Stock exchange. usually I make a note of that by writing the following (and they haven’t paid me at all):
image: sxc
Cow Poop Marinade. Got it. Csn I put it on fish, too?
yep fish too…chicken, duck, even rattlesnake.
Funny, I kind of welcome the new law then everyone knows where they stand. I’d hope that the kinds of blogs I read would use full disclosure, but you never know.
Jenny- for me it isnt the law itself it is the principle of governmental micromanagement. Adding to that that this only covers bloggers..Magazine journalists can get any number or perks and write about them and are not under the same full disclosure law.
Amen! The government spends way too much time messing around in my life rather than focusing on running this country! Perhaps if they practiced this full disclosure amongst the politicians and everytime the politicians voted on something they made sure to announce to the world that even though they had an opinion on the law, they and their families are in fact exempt from that very law, so really should you trust that they are actually voting for our best interest or their pocketbooks? It’s the same thing really…
Jen..see, that is my thought too.