British Mummy Bloggers Do It With Integrity

As a mummy blogging evangelist and founder of the British Mummy Bloggers social network, I've been following the debate about blogging ethics and reviews/sponsored posts with great interest. This is now official business in the US, with the FTC about to launch guidelines this summer.

Things seemed to hit a crescendo when Mom Dot, a social network for US mommy bloggers, announced a PR Blackout Challenge aimed at urging mommy bloggers to get back to basics after loosing the plot to the allure of giveaways, reviews, and blog trips.

In response, I wrote May British Mummy Bloggers Never Need a PR Blackout, more as a warning to our growing community of what may be in store if we don't learn from what has happened to mommy bloggers on the other side of the pond.

After several conversations and comments, it became clear that British mummy bloggers don't need a code of ethics. That would take all the fun out of blogging and make it seem more like work. Rather, we could all use a reminder of the issues of ethical blogging. Hence, British Mummy Bloggers Do It With Integrity was born.

The “British Mummy Bloggers Do It with Integrity” badge stands for blogging with principle. By displaying the badge you agree that you will strive to:

• Make transparent any relationships with products or companies;
• Clearly label advertising, advertorials and/or sponsored posts;
• Always write as truthfully as possible about a product or company;
• Observe intellectual property rights.

If you would like to join in our campaign to keep doing it with integrity, please feel free to grab the code and display it on your blog:

<a href="http://www.amodernmother.com/2009/08/british-mummy-bloggers-do-it-with-integrity.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss248/violetposy/integrity1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Thank you to the Blog with Integrity people for their inspiration for this post. They have a more indepth campaign and pledge, please check it out and sign their petition.

And a big thank you to Liz at Violet Posy for designing our lovely badge! Liz is the technical help behind the network and does a FAB job.

I'm also adding some examples of disclosure pages:

• Bambino Goodies
• Violet Posy
• A Modern Mother
• From Dates to Diapers (US site)

Comments

[clareybabble]

Sounds great! I will put the badge on my blog.

[notSupermum]

I love this campaign, and have signed the pledge. Well done to everyone involved.

[Potty Mummy]

I've signed up and got the badge on the blog. Very timely, Susanna!

[Iota]

Great idea.

How about saying

'Always write as truthfully as possible about a product or company'?

Oftentimes, a blogger is using information given to them by a company. I think it's fair just to use that info, rather than to feel they have to do independent research.

But I'm being pedantic, and I don't want to compromise the snappiness of your excellent bullet points.

I'm not going to display the badge, because I don't do reviews etc. If I start to do so, then I will.

[Felicia - I Complete Me]

Such a great idea. I wish we can simply put a badge on our site to do this as well, but I'm pretty sure someone will still be upset. Oh the joy of mommy blogging.

[Natalie]

Although I won't be signing up as I have a disclosure and my blogs are my business and not all parent related, this is a good idea in the main, particularly when readers may not have recognised the shift in a blog that has gone from being 'personal' to having elements that are commercially driven within the content.

[A Modern Mother]

clarey--thanks!

notSupermum--thanks for the support.

Potty--that's unusual, I'm never on time!

Iota--Done. And thanks for the heads up on the campaign.

Felicia--yes, if only it was that simple.

Natalie--Thanks for your support, many of your ideas were incorporated in this.

[Caroline]

Thanks for the interesting links, Susanna. Real food for thought.

[Dee Parrot]

I love this idea. I'm new to blogging, but I think all these standards are important. The "observe intellectual property rights" one is important to me. If people write for me, they will always be acknowledged, with a link to their blog.

[Claire]

I'm having problems putting that on my page. Not sure why. Does it work on Blogger pages? And is it javascript/HTML?

[Susan Getgood]

I'm one of the co-founders of BlogWithIntegrity.com and it is great to see the idea spread.

Good luck with your campaign.

[Brit in Bosnia]

award for you at mine. x

[Sass]

I'm supporting this - with one big caveat - some bloggers manage giveaways and sponsorships really well. I'm not against all sponsorship, paid for reviews etc. Disclaimers just need to be easy to find, that's all.

[Jo Beaufoix]

I've signed up and added the badge. I'm really in favour of this. Well done Susanna and Violet Posy.

[Liz]

Susanna I was just wondering in your opinion if the Hectic Mum blog is ‘transparent’ enough. It's run by Get The Label and we mention the products a lot hence making it very clear to the reader that the two are associated but is this enough?

Liz

[Mwa]

I like this!
I was wondering, though, about the recent vogue for doing sponsored posts, and only mentioning at the END of the post that it was sponsored. This always makes me feel like I've been "had." Perhaps it might be worth including a rule that it should be made obvious from the start.