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There have been any number of times that I have eagerly clicked over to my favorite personal blog, awaiting a hilarious breastfeeding story or an engaging rant about reality TV (Kelly Bensimmon, you just kill me with that orange skin!) only to find an uninspired giveaway of Consumer Package Good X. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I often wonder what the blog world would be like if everyone got back to blogging their passions, as they mostly did 3 or 4 years ago (I know, call me Granny), and away from the half-hearted marketing plugs.
So I was intrigued to learn that this week, a blogging community called MomDot issued a call for a PR Blackout next month.
MomDot is challenging bloggers to participate for one week in August in a PR Blackout challenge where you do not blog ANY giveaways, ANY reviews, and Zero press releases. In fact, we don't want you to talk to PR at ALL that whole week. We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics.
Evidently this is necessary because bloggers in this community are now experiencing "deadline stress equivalent to what the General Motors CEO must feel every time he drives into work." Wow, writing your opinion about soup is now comparable to being responsible for the livelihood of 325,000 employees and their families! That is a lot of stress!
Admittedly my first thought was, it's a nice idea, but haven't bloggers learned to use the delete key on their email accounts?
Unless you are receiving money from a sponsor or have some other contract, a blogger never has an obligation to post about a product. Never. Not even if that product came free. Not even if that product came free, hand-delivered to your door by a shirtless Hugh Jackman. But then, I would wonder what in the world is going on in your life that's more interesting than writing about a shirtless Hugh Jackman at your door.
Susan Getgood, a respected marketer and PR professional in the mom
blogger community cut right to the chase on her own blog, Marketing Roadmaps:
I really cannot figure out the reason for the boycott. If product reviews are too much work, don’t do them. Or do fewer. If you aren’t getting joy from something, stop. If the value isn’t there, don’t do it.
Seems logical to me. But it would seem that this Product Review Stress Syndrome is palpable and does somehow need to be addressed, as a few dozen bloggers have eagerly embraced the effort. Grandma blogger (cool!) Cindy of Moomette's Magnificents suggests that she didn't start as a product reviewer, but it has increasingly taken over her time. Similar thoughts have been echoed by Heather at Maternal Spark and Tammy of of Autism Learning Felt who says quite clearly:
This is not to shun PR, but to give us mommies a break. We put a lot of time into doing reviews and giveaways. Time that we don’t get paid for. Yes, we got a free product. Big whoopee. A $10, $25, or $50 item for all the hours we put into reviewing an item, writing up the post and promoting the giveaways. The main reason most of us do it is because at one time it was fun. Lately, for some of us, we miss just blogging about our family and our life. We want a break.
And I totally see her point. We--especially moms with such limited time and resources but really all bloggers--should all be putting our energy towards the activities that give us the most reward and fulfillment in life. Online and off.
But then, why take the shot at PR people? Why not call it "Write Well Week" or "Blog About Life Week" if the idea isn't to antagonize or alienate the PR community? Ostensibly, that's what an effort called "PR Blackout" is doing.
And if the effort is such a sincere act of community building, I cannot figure out why MomDot would seek to antagonize those who don't participate. The day after the call for a blackout, MomDot editor Trish initiated a further call to bloggers, suggesting that they are "whiny" and "weak" if they won't or can't commit to the blackout because of existing obligations to marketers.
Listen up whiny babies of the blogosphere: If your [sic] afraid to take a WEEK, a WEEK off of PR blogging, then you have a PROBLEM.
Now go dry your
