Are fashion bloggers too grabby?

There is a great discussion going on today over at one of our favorite blogs, BobbinTalk. Aneta raises some interesting questions around the ethics of blogging vs. editorial/advertorial for fashion reviews. Should fashion bloggers expect free samples for reviews?

We love her suggestion that bloggers should operate with the professionalism of a media company and be very clear about their audience reach and demographics. A designer should be able to assess the return on investment they can expect but they should also have a clear audience in mind. 

We'd love to hear what other bloggers, fashion or otherwise, have to say on this matter. Be sure to check out the full post.

"I've been thinking about this post for a few days now. The initial nudge came from a comment of a reader on the Bloggers Vs. Editors post. There is a lot of buzz about fashion bloggers not being treated equally to editors and being accused of taking gifts in return for positive reviews of products and fashion collections, but it it never dawned my mind that bloggers can actually be pushy, greedy or demanding. How do designers view us, bloggers? Here is what one emerging designer: Tricia Hoke encounters in her efforts to promote a fashion line."

via www.bobbintalk.com

Comments

[Ian Leslie]

Dear Typepad,

Are you sure you're supposed to have "favourites"? It's like a parent having favourite children. If you say it out loud, some of us realise we're not favourites, and feel terribly sad...

[The Typepad Team]

Ian! please don't be sad. You are breaking our hearts! :) You are right perhaps we shouldn't have favorites!! There are so many awesome blogs on TypePad that favorites has to be a fairly broad term. We especially like blogs that engage their readers with a debate like this one.

I would love to see a link to your blog - why not add one to your TypePad profile?

[Anastasia]

I love Aneta's blogs very much despite the fact that I had little feedback. I even liked the blogs of her guest author while she was away on a holiday. I believe that fashion bloggers are more powerful than ...designers as they communicate the trends without too much show. Should they get a small reward for their work? Why not?

[Fashion Relish]

As a fashion blogger, I write to express my ideas, opinions and thoughts about new topics, designers and/or products in the market. Although we are not guided by the rules of conduct that newspapers, magazines, television and other press media. I think the majority of bloggers are writing about designers, because they like them and want to spread word of them, and not doing so to add to their wardrobe

[Account Deleted]

seriously, you need to take your feed off my recent activity page. didn't ask for it, don't want it, am so over typepad and their intrusiveness right now i want to scream...take yourself off my page please. you have 3 posts on there in the last hour.

[Robin]

TypePad Team...your replies to these comments are showing up as comments on my dashboard. I have gotten a few so far--can you please turn this off? Thank you!

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Mary, thanks for the feedback. To stop the messages from the TypePad team arriving in your dashboard go to the TypePad Team profile - http://profile.typepad.com/typepad and click unfollow. Many thanks and our apologies, Claire

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Robin, you can turn these off by visiting the TypePad Team profile and clicking "Unfollow". Here's the link to the profile http://profile.typepad.com/typepad.

[Robin]

Thanks for the speedy response--I had not realized I was following.

[Turin]

I provide lots of thoughtful posts about a variety of important issues that nobody comments on. After nearly six years (yes, Typepad folks, that six years) of blogging on Typepad, maybe you could boost my blogs by citing me, instead of someone doing pop culture.

[Frank Warner]

What is this crap? Don't send this to me.

[Account Deleted]

I'm sorry, but... What the eff?

The world and the TypePad service doesn't revolve around you alone.

It seems like you haven't bothered to pull your head out of the sand to look at what members of the TypePad team are actually doing. They are eating their own dog food, as the saying goes. This basically means that they're using their own service to demonstrate it to users so that their customers also use it. Just take a look at how many blogs that many of the more prominent TypePad team members have. They're practicing what they preach and demonstrating to their customers that they believe in their product. That is why the TypePad Team adds Favorite posts.

Of course, they will add favorites that appeal to them. There's a degree of subjectivity in this. They're perfectly within reason to do this with posts they like. Maybe whoever is managing the account just doesn't find your blog content appealing. There's really no problem with that, in my opinion. Not everyone will like every single blog. Don't take it personally that they don't favorite your posts. I'm actually really baffled that you take this so personally. Why is your blogging self-worth so attached to this issue?

You must not feel all that much shame or embarrassment if you're perfectly fine with broadcasting your rejection for all of us to read about. If you feel "left out" because TypePad isn't favoriting your blog posts... I don't know. I'm just baffled by it. You're acting like a spoiled child who doesn't get her way--no offense if you're actually a child. I don't know you, so I assume you're an adult. Your whole comment is just really strange.

[Account Deleted]

If you don't want these updates, you should probably stop following TypePad Team. Go to your profile here: http://profile.typepad.com/frankwarner and unfollow them.

Otherwise you'll keep getting updates about TypePad Team's activity.

[piper]

Sorry - every so slightly OT - but why am I getting updates suddenly show up on my dashboard. I am not subscribed to the feed and yet, when I log in - I have to work my way through several Typepad updates/favorites to get to the comments on my own blog.

While the updates are good info to see from time to time, is there a way to turn this feature off, please? Or at least give me the option? :)

[piper]

My apologies. please ignore my last comment - I believe I've figured it out. And besides - I just noticed Brinstar's comment right above! :)

[soekershof]

Interesting but what we really miss is a search facility within typepad that can let users find blogs with their interest. For example design blogs, architecture-, garden-, art-, DIY- etc. blogs under the typepad umbrella.
Choosing 'favorites' is always personal taste.

[Frank Warner]

Thanks, Brinstar. This stuff arrived out of the blue. I'm sure everyone here is nice. But the conversation appeared so randomly, it looked like spam.

[Kofla Olivieri]

This is off-topic, how do you add a link to my blog from a Typepad profile?

[Shannan Sinclair]

Here here! I have suggested this feature before - a way to search by interest. I did find another service that does allow you to search blogs by topic --- if you are interested --- until TypePad figures out how to do it (hint hint)
http://www.bloglovin.com/

[You Wore What?]

To get back OT, i must concur with Anastasia and Fashion Relish et al have said, the majority of fashion bloggers are (i think) in it for the love. I for one would never dream of promoting a brand or designer in some vain hope of them actually reading my post and sending a freebie. So if there's anyone from Supreme (nice SS10 collection btw), Stussy, Maharishi or Nike SB out there reading this comment please don't send me free stuff, i simply could not accept it. :)

[Bobbin Talk]

Thank you for featuring the "Flip Side of Fashion Bloggers" post.

It is an important issue not just for fashion bloggers' relationship with designers, but for any blogger. It's an issue of ethics that applies to any industry. I just happen to be in the fashion industry.

As to the whole "Favorites" issue: everybody has their favorite color, favorite food, favorite magazine, TV show why not a favorite blog? More than 30 million votes came in for an American Idol favorite. I certainly have faves. Why is this an issue? It's the first time after over a year of blogging every day a post of mine has been featured. I'm sure in a couple of days I'll be forgotten and someone else will be a favorite!

Every blog relates to (or should strike a cord with) a certain audience. I'm sure if you put your love and hard work in it people are responding to it. I work very hard on mine and don't always get attention, but I certainly appreciate it when I do.

Thank you and all the best to all of you!
Aneta

[Jeff Brooks]

I think something may have changed. I also started seeing these posts and comments on my dashboard today, and I have never purposely followed the Typepad team. (I've since unfollwed.) You might want to check if some global change has happened, because it is sort of annoying to get messages you don't want.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Kofla, go to your TypePad Profile (you can access this by logging into TypePad and clicking on your name at the top). If you are logged in you will see "Edit your profile" under your photo or avatar. Scroll down to the bottom and add your home page URL and your other accounts around the web like Twitter, Facebook etc. Hope that helps!

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks for the comment Aneta! You are right these ethical issues are ones that reach beyond fashion blogging. Many of our bloggers are having to blaze the trail as the medium becomes more established. I think the guidelines for advertisers on your blog are a good example of how this can be done.

http://www.bobbintalk.com/advertising.html

Thank you for raising these questions. They are interesting for us all.

Thanks, Claire - The TypePad Team

[Lesley @ The Design File]

Aneta - I think this is a really fascinating topic. I write about interior design and nobody sends me anything (not because I have rule or anything, just because nobody sends me anything).

I'm also a full-time newspaper reporter.

Obviously, in my newspaper job, I would never take anything for free -- whether it was meant to influence a story or just because someone wanted to give me something. We just don't do that. Most newspapers I've worked at end up doing a "sale" of the freebies they get -- books, music, etc -- to raise money for charity.

As a blogger, I don't have quite the same standards. I absolutely would never accept payment for a blog post or endorsement. I would never accept a free item in exchange for a blog post. But I would probably accept something sent to me and then make up my own mind about whether to write about it. Also, if I did write about something that had been sent to me, I would always, always, always disclose it. I think that's the only way to go.

Thanks for bringing up the topic. It's really interesting.

[Account Deleted]

you think so...but typepad has just imbeded itself...there is no unfollow in that link...just typepad love...and you know--as a former typepad lover....i seriously am becoming a typepad hater....not funny

[gel]

I also figured out how to turn these off, but I feel very strongly that Typepad should have given us the option of turning this feature on, instead of going ahead and flooding our screens with discussion. I had no interest in this and feel like I was spammed. Please, in the future, give us the option of signing up for a new feature instead of thrusting it upon us. I resent the time it took to figure out how to remove the feature without filling out a ticket. I'd also like to remove the conversation that is already there, cluttering my blog. Is there a way to do that???

This action was stressful, annoying, and took the fun out of me signing in to see my readers' comments. Suddenly typepad talk was all over my blog. This is not the professional way I've known typepad to act in the past.

Thanks for listening.

[soekershof]

Thanks shannan; at least one more person that likes to hint TypePad to launch a subject search within their own parish. Bloglovin however is only/mostly focused on the Scandinavian market; especially the Swedish and the site has quite a few hickups....
Come on TypePad; get working ...........

[Bobbin Talk]

Thank you so much for your comment Lesley!

It seems to work different for fashion magazine editors. They DO get a lot of gifties and freebies. Some fashion or design bloggers do to!
It comes down to the personal or company ethics, but with bloggers is less regulated. I'm much more concerned with bloggers demanding gifts which is destructive to the reputation of bloggers as respectful media outlet!