WOMMA Blogging Ethical Guidelines

Source: http://womma.org/blogger/
10 Principles for Ethical Contact by Marketers

Introduction

The WOMMA Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines gives marketers a 10-item checklist with which to make sure that they are always appropriate and ethical when communicating with bloggers.

This document is a public draft of guidelines for marketers to follow when doing outreach within the blogosphere. It is neither a "how to blog" nor a "what to blog" document. Rather, its intent is to give clarity and guidance to marketers who are working and corresponding with bloggers, and to ensure that their efforts adhere to the standards set by the WOMMA Ethics Code.

These guidelines are designed to help marketers embrace specific practices that are deemed ethical within the blogosphere. Adopting them will empower marketers to quickly identify issues within existing communications and will help ensure that future efforts at communicating with bloggers are ethically sound.

The tool is simple to use:
1. Provide a copy of the Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines, along with a copy of the WOMMA Ethics Code, to all personnel reading, writing, and commenting on blogs.
2. Prior to corresponding with a blogger, review each of the 10 ethics principles.
3. Create a monitoring program to ensure that your staff is complying.
This is one of several tools in WOMMA's new "Practical Ethics" program, which will help marketers turn ethics from a concept into a series of action steps. It provides simple, specific guidance to prevent problems before they happen, and to help marketers train their staff on ethics.

Objectives
• Help marketers work honestly and ethically within the blogosphere.
• Promote disclosure by marketers within blogs.
• Protect consumers by establishing ethical standards for marketing to and within blogs.
• Protect marketers' reputations from the damage that unethical behavior will cause.
• Review these guidelines before initiating any contact with bloggers.
• Share these guidelines with vendors, agencies, and staff.
• Keep disclosure and transparency top of mind.

Remember: Consumers come first, honesty isn't optional, and deception is always exposed.

For more information, visit www.womma.org/ethics.
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1. I will always be truthful and will never knowingly relay false information. I will never ask someone else to deceive bloggers for me.
2. I will fully disclose who I am and who I work for (my identity and affiliations) from the very first encounter when communicating with bloggers or commenting on blogs.
3. I will never take action contrary to the boundaries set by bloggers. I will respect all community guidelines regarding posting messages and comments.
4. I will never ask bloggers to lie for me.
5. I will use extreme care when communicating with minors or blogs intended to be read by minors.
6. I will not manipulate advertising or affiliate programs to impact blogger income.
7. I will not use automated systems for posting comments or distributing information.
8. I understand that compensating bloggers may give the appearance of a conflict of interest, and I will therefore fully disclose any and all compensation or incentives.
9. I understand that if I send bloggers products for review, they are not obligated to comment on them. Bloggers can return products at their own discretion.
10. If bloggers write about products I send them, I will proactively ask them to disclose the products’ source.


Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the purpose of this document?
This is a tool that helps marketers learn appropriate behavior when communicating with bloggers. It helps companies train their staff on blog ethics. It provide clear, simple guidance on a complicated topic.
2. Is WOMMA regulating blogs?
Absolutely not. WOMMA is in no way making a statement on blogger behavior or attempting to assert authority over the blogosphere. Our job is to educate marketers.
3. Will this code help me maintain my own blog?
No. This document is intended to set standards for marketing to others' blogs, not within one's own blog. It is not a "how to blog" document.
4. Are these absolute rules?
No, they are guidelines. This code helps marketers establish standards of conduct before communicating with bloggers, helping them avoid costly mistakes after.
5. How should this document be used?
• Provide a copy of the Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines, along with a copy of the WOMMA Ethics Code, to all personnel reading, writing, and commenting on blogs. Anyone on your team who communicates with bloggers needs to read this code.
• Prior to corresponding with a blogger -- online or offline -- review the code's 10 principles.
• Create a monitoring program to ensure that your staff is complying.
6. Who within my company should use this code?
Anyone who may reach out to blogs. Share it with your vendors and agencies, too, as well as with their subcontractors.
7. How does this code help consumers?
This code protects consumers by promoting a standard of disclosure and transparency within the blogosphere. It makes honesty the norm and is intended to reveal, not hide, marketers' involvement and influence in blogs.
8. How will this code help me build better relationships with bloggers?
By asking -- and answering -- ethical questions before contacting bloggers, you protect your company's reputation and bloggers' integrity, building trust and loyalty alike.