Blogging for money and sellin’ on out in the process
I randomly found Alex Halavais’ weblog (and liked it). Citing an article from Inside Higher Ed, Alex muses:
[A]nyone who studies the process of popularization of communication media knows [that] the media attention on blogs during the next year (and thus—causation aside—much of the popular attention) will be on who just sold out. (emphasis mine)
And, as if on cue, our old friend Elizabeth Lane Lawley of mamamusings.net does, in fact, sell out.
Perhaps one day I’ll eat these words, but at this point, I don’t even feel like bothering with that AdSense crap. We’re talking blogs here: easy to set up, cheap to keep the lights on. Damn, can’t we just keep writing forthehelluvit? Am I naïve? Am I too idealistic?
UPDATE 1/9/04: Check out Alex’s update for a more thoughtful analysis of this issue.
January 4th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Hmmm. Well, it’s not as though I’ve said I won’t write unless I’m sponsored. Nor have I said that I’ll stop writing the things that I was already producing. The only difference is that I’ll add one post per week, for three months, about a CMS vendor.
Sure, a blog is “easy to set up” and “cheap to keep the lights on.” But writing things worth reading is not a trivial task, and I’m not particularly troubled by the idea that writers producing content of value to others might get some compensation for that.
Is it a _bad_ thing to get paid for labors of love? Not when you’re supporting a family of four, to my mind. My blog takes up a good bit of time and energy, and it’s nice to be able to have it give a bit back to my family in return for their tolerance of this additional time-sink. :)
January 4th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
Liz–
A valid point, but now that we’re inevitably exiting the Golden Age of blogs, I wonder how long it will be before companies start contacting influential bloggers with a simple tit-for-tat, bribe-for-blog arrangement.
Steve Jobs, for example, with his inane, cult-like following and L. Ron Hubbard complex wouldn’t be above such a plan. He finds a blogger who likes Apple stuff, pays him to write some high-profile posts about an upcoming product (and spin it just the way Apple likes, because we know they’re secretive and such), and voila!—another feather in the Apple marketing cap.
January 4th, 2005 at 9:06 pm
Oh yes–and without the important tenets of full disclosure and freedom to bash said product.
February 27th, 2005 at 9:45 am
Is it News to You that We Are Losing our Freedom in Wealth Bondage?
Posted by The Happy Tutor Excellent article in the WSJ on blogging as journalism by Peggy Noonan. How about blogging as citizenship? Not being an authority/author/auctoritas, but just a citizen, talking with friends, trying to make sense of things in a…