So Kahenya today had a piece on Daily Nation Technology section talking about how bloggers are cheaply shrewd by marketers, and are quickly losing the plot. The main point is that bloggers have been compromised and no longer the independent voices of reasoning. I get the point of what Kahenya is saying, it is something which Archer alluded to sometime back on his blog title Is Social Media slowly turning us into seal-clappers? . But I have different take and somehow I disagree with them. Kahenya’s article dwell largely on tech blogs and this being one of them, I thought is time to make something right.
To start with why do people blog in the first place? I would assumed that everyone knows the answer to that but for the sake of the whole humanity let me try to answer it. The history of blogs show that in the beginning blogs were like personal diaries. Individuals would put down their thoughts about the personal things going on their lives . So like diaries blogs were done to indicate future events or at the end of the day to reflect on what has happened during the day. Although they were like diaries then, still you have to appreciate that not everyone would like to put their diaries in the open for the public. With that in mind some took the route of talking about topical issues of the day. So with time, a number of people decided to systematically move from the “I” “i” “i” , to to the second or third parties as the subject matters. So people moved from talking about “i this”,” i that” to issues, products, services, things, gossips and others started to use it to wage personal fights with rivals or perceived enemies.
Then came some clever people who took blogging to a whole new level, having started from the same route. At this point the likes of Politico, Huffingtonpost, Techruch, Mashable can no longer be called blogs. But they were all blogs at one point run by individuals. Now this is important. In any field there must be an exit strategy, where the old get out of the scene and the young take over.Blogging is not different and you can only do it at the same level as the energy exist for you to do so. We all can agree that creating content is not easy…original content for that matter. So what are the exit strategies for blogging? 1 Make it big like the likes of Mashable , Techcrunch of these world 2. Hang on there but become dormant..3. Quit blogging and become a journalist 4. Retire and move to the other field 5. Become a VC (tech bloggers)
One known fact is that Kahenya was once one of the most prolific Kenyan bloggers who took the easy route out to be part of Nation Media. Now he is essentially a journalist …you can see an exit route there. But it is more complex than that because journalists too are crossing over to blogging in bigger numbers than the bloggers like Kahenya going on that direction. That bring us back to the question of why do people blog? What I know is that each individual has his/her personal reasons for starting a blog. With that in mind , I don’t think it is completely right to say that bloggers have been compromised without first understanding the history of each individual blogger. Since blogs moved from being like diaries people now have different reasons for blogging. Higher purpose, Money, Change the world, Truth teller, War Zone combat tool, Fame, Gossip, Political Propaganda machine… name it
Let start with those who do it for money, because that is where I think the bigger problem is. Doing content is hard as I have mentioned and for me I would encourage anybody who does it for money to continue and go for more money. For start some people think bloggers are idle people who sit there just to make noise…It would be very wonderful to make them pay for the noise. . Why do I say this, because blogs are personal but there is cost involved in maintaining them. If you have self hosted blog you have to have server and with more traffic coming in, means you have to dig deep in your pocket to maintain it. I do register domains and host sites for bloggers and most of them don’t last past the first year. Then there is the cost of being online, Safaricoms, AccessKenyas, Oranges of these world will not want to know that you are the voice of reasoning so you get the internet for free. And then finally the time factor. That said, does doing it for money means being compromised? I don’t think so.
May be I am going a head of myself, what does it mean to be compromised? The first step is to clearly understand the word “compromised”. Kahenya’s article confused me a bit, at one point is like saying that it is bad , the bloggers are losing it and then at the other point he seems to be saying that it is good but bloggers are being cheap. According to Kahenya:
” Let me put it in black and white. Many bloggers have been compromised. Flashy new gadgets, subsidized bandwidth, a couple of freebies, fancy events with free food and drinks will get them to sing whatever song the corporate institutions want them to sing” .
And
We would imagine that the price it would take to get a blogger to toe the marketers’ line would be much higher, but it seems a new device is adequate enough to make them lose objectivity.
Ok now you understand what it means to be compromised. If you look at the above statements, you would imagine that the only thing that make someone to start blogging is to get a gadget, freebies, drinks or whatever . If you have been around like Kahenya, you would expect him to understand that many bloggers have done these blogging thing for many years without getting anything in return. They love what they do and just that a corporate comes a long does not change that fact. The thinking behind Kahenya’s statement and many others which I have seen around is the notion that the bloggers, should be seen to be constantly fighting something, someone. If you happen to agree with a company, Government or something then you are already a sell out. being a blogger to me is higher than that, bloggers are meant to build the society around them. It means standing for the right thing, helping people understand complex issues, starting up discussions and shaping the future of Kenya. I have always believed that activism without proper alternative solution is a lost course . So if you going to criticize a company then at least give them an alternative solution or what else can be done..if you are going to point out the wrong things about an institution or product or a service it is only right to say the good things too.
Tech blogs is the center of Kahenya’s article so let me go deeper to what we do at Kachwanya.com and see if we are already been compromised. I regularly review mobile phones, I get called in a number of occasions by the phone manufacturers when they have new gadgets to test/use and review. So I try them, note down what I like, and what I don’t like. Once through I do posts on these gadgets. At the same time during the launch for the said gadgets, I get invites to attend the events. Since I blog about mobile phones, social media, Start-ups, internet and Kenyan tech industry in general, I get invites to several events in a week. So at the end I choose to attend one or two depending whether I think the new product is unique and I need to attend and learn more. So yes, I get the flashy gadgets to review but does that makes me compromised? It is hard to believe but nobody has ever told me what not to say in my blog. My interest on computers and mobile devices run way back, way back when I was still a kid and literally I spent 365/1 of my life reading about, working with, trying to influence how a computer device works. So when I see a good device I will say so, if a company constantly make good devices I will continue to say so…if that is what is called being compromised, then I am comfortable being compromised.
If you look at it from the corporate point of view, Kahenya confused PR with Marketing. In Kenyan most marketers are still clueless on how online works. The marketers are stuck on the number game and the traditional method give them unclear big sounding numbers( works on assumptions). The digital world came in with precise and clear way to measure and that is confusing the bosses. Anyway, it is the PR people who floods bloggers mail boxes with press releases(Not all bloggers, mainly tech and business bloggers). It simple, for the marketers, they have to pay to run the ads while PR look at bloggers as media and should be interested on any new story. If there is any lesson from this, PR people should bring in their marketing wings to start paying the bloggers for marketing for them…
Having said that, I think Kahenya brought up some important points, especially on the diversity of blogging. It mostly assumed that there are excess tech bloggers in Kenya, but it is clear that the number is not enough. And I keep on saying that we need more bloggers in the important areas like Agriculture, environment and climate change. Agriculture is the backbone of this country and the need for bloggers to talk about agriculture can never be overemphasized. You can see we have rain now, but is there somebody out there planning for the future? May be next year we wouldn’t have the rain and at the end of the year people will be starving. We should be ashamed that at that point the leadership will go out on a begging bowl.
Overall, if true that bloggers are compromised, then I would say that it is a big opportunity for those who are not compromised to fill the space. I mean don’t sit there and complain, do something by being the new voice of reasoning. After all to start a blog is easy and simple.
I don’t wish to get into Kahenya’s article, but only to point out what Kenyan bloggers and paid tweeps are doing that isn’t right.
When you are given a product to use and review, industry courtesy demands that you mention that you got the item free (or something similar, so that the reader is aware that this may not be a totally objective comment.
For tweeps, when tweeting for pay, I see international tweeps either preface their tweets with #Ad or #spon. Again, courtesy.
Why are we reluctant to do the same?
Start with the gadgets..personally I usually indicate on the post that I got it from a given company, but there those companies which give the gadgets for a few days or weeks then take them back. That makes it complicated, because it is not there for keeps. In that case you are left wondering to keep telling people that you used the gadget and took it back . To say the truth there are only a few companies which give gadgets for keeps. In all that I have never feel like my objectivity have been compromised in anyway. I simply say it the way I see it. Now to the point about tweeting, I think most people fear that if they say that they have been paid to say something their influence would be reduced. I know a number have been paid to tweet or blog and they don’t disclose that. For the international tweeps, I think there is a different in that there are laws clearly indicating that you must disclose when tweeting for pay. Our laws are behind on that, and a part for moral argument there is no law or binding agreement for people to do that. At this point I think the young Kenyans should do something to help in drafting cyber laws but we also have to remember they are busy tweeting.
It’s not a law, just industry ethics. In cases of gadgets, no one says you should say you got a phone for keeps. Check Amazon reviews especially for books, you’ll see how they do it when they’ve read a book specifically so they review it.
Honesty reducing influence? Well, clearly they’re not thinking long term. Once your readers and followers realize you are a paid gun,they stop paying attention. There are some hash tags I just ignore, and some tweeps whose recommendation about an event or product I cannot take seriously. Ethics win all the time.
A final general comment, I find the last paragraph of this post needlessly defensive.
I read Kahenya’s article and it resonated on very many levels, this is not about the gadgets, giveaway and all but about your ‘voice’ as a blogger.
Everyone who got into/gets into blogging does so because they want to say something, tell a certain story be it tech, agriculture etc from their view point.
As the situation stands, and I am very sure, scrolling through a good number of tech blogs, you will encounter a PR release that has been ‘summarized’, that is a fact! Others go the whole hog and just copy paste the whole thing.
It is the sad truth, as Kellie says ethics….
Mr. Kachwanya, can bloggers who are paid to blog for a company do the jobs independently by critiquing the products/services without appearing to be a PR division of the paymaster? That’s what we are readers are looking for and must be what Kahenya intimated. No need to be defensive bro. Bloggers are compromised and can be seen from their posts. They never seem to give an objective critique of the products but merely copy-paste what the company tells them to write. M-Shwari of Safaricom launched yesterday is a case in point. Other than stating what the products does, which blogger has read between the fine lines and concluded to the readers that this is an expensive loan that only rivals shylocks and that banks are way cheaper? Very few. Many just laud the innovativeness of the company and how a great product it is. Bloggers are just becoming marketers telling us all the beauty about products and companies without telling us the gray areas that need further improvement.
We have had a discussion about tweeting for pay and I remember most people were like how many people would believe you once they know you have been paid to say something. It is debatable point in a way but looking at in ethical point of view it is good for people to disclose when they are doing it for money. I think the best thing would be for a few who see it in the same way to start doing so. With time it will become a culture . I don’t think Kenya is unique in this, I have seen even in the West or Japan there are still people who don’t disclose that they have been paid to tweet or blog in a certain. As for the last paragraph…point taken, it should have not come out like that
When we did BAKE Awards early this year, one of the criticism we got was to do with the press releases and people who just post them in their blogs. Next year as we do the second edition , we have decided to give judges more time to ensure that those who will be nominated have original thoughtful content. But that a side, if someone put up news, in most cases the PR firms break the news.. In my case I decided to divide the site with a column or a section showing the news and updates and the other section containing opinion and analysis. I always try In a week to do like one or two opinion pieces. With the news update, when I get the press release I read it and then compose my own version but in the end this does not differ much from the press release. Mostly it becomes the summary of the press release but with my own words. Overall blogs are meant to be for opinion pieces and not press releases, a point which agree with Kahenya
Totally agree with Fred. Some reviews I read make me wonder. So blatantly compromised! Or even events I’ve attended with “paid” tweeps, and to me it’s a pathetic event, only to see the rave reviews on Twitter. IMO, that’s cheapening yourself, and it’s not sustainable.
It is good you state your procedure in posting releases which in my opinion is logical and good.
What galls me is when the same stuff hits my inbox, I am a blogger ;), then I get to read the same on a blog I previously went for a unique take on the tech industry and I find it word for word…
Maaan…i am not being defensive, don’t get me wrong here,I just feel that the word compromised might be used where it does not apply. Anyway I hope you read my Safaricom post, now that you have brought it up….http://www.kachwanya.com/safaricom-launches-m-shwari-mobile-money-payday-loan/
We may be mixing issues here. The problem is not that the bloggers are not supposed to pursue their independent financial arrangements but the hurt this inflicts on the blogging society. Many including myself trust bloggers and social media channels more than mainstream media due to the open ended nature of the participants. I carefully curate who I follow and read and when a voice I once deemed transparent, authoritative and subjective starts singing a particular brands tune in each and every post, then I feel cheated.
Atleast the bloggers should indicate subtly that it is a sponsored post or review and keep such posts to a minimum to maintain their Integrity.
Yes I did read your M-shwari post. But am sure you never saw the terms and conditions. Go ahead and read them and make a new post. There are issues that need to be talked about. Yes you said it was expensive but as a tech blogger with a business degree background, would you not have made comparisons with what shylocks offer (their model and rates) and what banks offer (say interest rates per month) and tell the readers that Safaricom is expensive or cheap depending on the analytics/comparisons? And the tweets yesterday about the product were lifted word for word from the company. I tweeted about how I felt the product was expensive compared to what banks offer and I could see people RTing it. Bloggers must remain objective and critical, even with paid posts. You shall be helping the companies to improve their brands by telling them your informed, honest and professional analysis.
Come on, can’t you get your grammar,tenses and spelling right? The author misses the point if they cannot communicate right.
Oooh the grammer people are here…good you got the message….thanks
If you are rewording a press release, why not type it out verbatim?
For me it is not about rewording but putting up the way I understand it. If you read some of the press releases, you would realize that they are full of many unnecessary words. But at the end the main aim is to post the news and the press releases are usually the source
Whenever news break, bloggers post what is the understanding at the time. Mostly it is about the news that a given company has launched a product or a service. After that it moves to the point where they test/study to understand the good and the bad of the product. The example you are using is not making sense because the Safaricom launch was just yesterday. And yes what came out yesterday were mostly news and the talking point from the company. To avoid the risk of posting half baked articles and analysis the bloggers themselves first have to study the product before going public with their thoughts. Also you have to understand that bloggers are meant to open/start the discussion. It is a two way traffic and if i say everything there is no chance that you will come in and add up something to the discussion.
I’m not a journalist. Sunny Bindra writes an opinion piece too and he isn’t a journalist, so get that fact right, and I actually do write at http://www.simple.co.ke and even that was being dissed in some comments on some other blog post here awhile back. Kennedy the comments here speak volumes.