The PR Blackout

17 July 2009
I have been seeing lots of buzz on blogs and Twitter about the proposed PR Black Out. Just thought I'd put my two cents in on the subject.

I love PR people! In my mind they bring lots of good things to the blogging world. I do not think that they force bloggers into doing anything. We are adults after all. What are they going to, spank us and take away our birthdays?

I will say that I am guilty of letting reviews and/or giveaways take over my blog at times. Sometimes life gets busy and I will only manage to blog the things I feel obligated to post. That's awful I know, but I am being honest. I try really hard not to let it happen, as I did not start this blogging adventure to be a product tester. For the most part, I avoid straight up review/giveaway blogs. But, there are times that I just don't have anything interesting going on to talk about or any tips to share. I am not blessed with the ability to think of good blog content 24/7. What can I say? I'm human. Maybe it is blogger burnout, but I feel the only person to blame for it is myself.

As for these bloggers getting overwhelmed by PR pitches and such, I just do not understand. You can tell PR reps no. You can just delete those press releases and such. You are not obligated to do anything they are asking you to do. If you are stressing out, just stop or cut back on what you are doing.

I love to review and do giveaways myself, but have no problem saying no to pitches that do not appeal to me. My main issue with PR is getting pitches from folks who have obviously not read my blog. Or getting a really enthusiastic email about a product you'd love to try, then they never respond to your email reply. I also think some folks need to work on the way they pitch things. But, these are minor irritations and just things that need some improvement. Blacking out all PR would not solve these issues.

But, everyone has to do what feels right for them. I don't think there is a right or wrong here. All the bashing is quite sad to me. I like to think of the mom blogsphere as a tight group, but I guess I was wrong. I think it's a shame that the posting of one's opinion can escalate into this mudslinging, cat fighting, high schoolish behavior.

Where do you stand on this one?

4 comments:

Pam said...

I didn't realize that this was happening. I am always interested in reading other's opinions about products. While I don't read straight contest or giveaway blogs, I don't mind PR.
Of course, the pr pitches I get are always ones I don't want. Figures.

Connie Walsh said...

I agree with you. I am now a follower of such a common cents lady!!!

Haasiegirl said...

The actual issue stems from women taking on too much all the time. They feel obligated, they feel competitive, they want to succeed online, they don't want to hurt relationships for the future.

Our point was to simple recognize that many groups of women DO feel that way and its ok to take a break...a lights out sort of thing to regenerate and evaluate what you are doing online.

I think there has been some harsh criticism, but truly, it was just a week..LOL

Sometimes women do need support to think that its "OK" to step back and we wanted to provide that to the section that did feel that way.

Its certainly not for everyone, nor are we asking everyone to commit or be involved, it was simply for the part of our community that stressed their interest and somehow the word got out...and its been....well, chaotic.

Our blog is there only to support and help the women that ask for it. We like to live and let live.

:-)

trisha

Mrs. Micah said...

Well said. As a personal finance blogger, I get a lot of PR stuff that goes straight in the trash. For people who don't know how to say no, maybe a blackout will help, but learning to say no permanently will do a lot more.

Whether or not bloggers do a lot of press releases and reviews will influence their readership, of course. I choose not to read most blogs which promote things on a regular basis. Sometimes the amount of promotion I see on others' blogs makes me feel like they've lost their voices. But it's their blog and it's every bloggers job to figure out what to delete and what to post based on their own goals for their site.