Today a good friend sent me a link to this NPR article about bloggers, particularly mom bloggers, and their practices regarding product reviews and sponsorships. Basically, the issue is about whether or not readers can trust blog reviewers to give an honest review, since they may have been paid, or, at the very least, seduced by free products and trips. (Hey, I’ll take a free trip!)
I’ve heard a bit about this debate before, but reading the article got me thinking about my own policy and practice in this area, since I’ve been doing giveaways and plan to start doing some book and product reviews as well.
With this in mind, I added another page to my blog entitled, “Product Review/Giveaway Policy.” In a nutshell, the policy is this:
Any products or books I review on my blog, unless otherwise noted, have been received free of charge and with no strings attached. Any opinions I give about said products or books are entirely my own and not influenced by any outside source. Just because I receive a free product or book doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily going to give it a good review. If it deserves one, it’ll get one. If not, well, you know the rest.
Translation: My reviews are not purchased or paid for; they are purely my opinion.
After reading the NPR article, I also went to Blog With Integrity, signed the pledge, and added the button to my sidebar. I am taking this very seriously because I want my readers to know they can trust me and my opinions.
On a lighter note, I just posted on Larger Families today about having baby fever…again. If you’re interested, click on over and you can leave me a comment on how pathetic I am…
Not pathetic at all! I think it’s pathetic when people stop at 2 kids because they “want their lives back.” They don’t know what they are missing.
Thanks, suburbancorrespondent. You have officially made me feel un-pathetic.