When a hashtag gets hijacked
Sep 30, 2009 Blog & Social Media Stuff
I never know how much to write about what goes on behind the scenes in the mommyblogger world. While a lot of bloggers do read Selfish Mom, the majority are moms looking for some light reading. Frankly I could fill an entire blog about the drama behind the blogs, but I usually just stay away from it.
Doing this full time is definitely a job, and it’s also a privilege. I get a lot of free stuff, I get free trips, and I get access to people I wouldn’t otherwise have access to. In the beginning I was giddy about it all. I was amazed that there was this whole world of marketing to moms that I hadn’t known existed. But then as I got more involved, I stopped referring to the stuff as “free” because it’s not. It involves my time, and my effort. And I’m not going to try to tell you for a second that it’s hard. It’s interesting, and fun, and I get a little thrill from being able to do things and go places that most people can’t. But it’s not “free.” Even if I don’t feel an obligation to the company, I do feel an obligation to my blog – if I don’t write about what I’m doing, I don’t get readers. If I don’t get readers, I don’t get advertisers or new opportunities. If I don’t get compensated – and I’m talking about cold hard cash here, not products – then this becomes an incredibly indulgent and expensive hobby.
When I see tweets and blog posts from other bloggers on trips, my first thought is always “Why wasn’t I invited?” because access is like currency in the mommyblogging world. And my second thought is always “Good for them.” I’ve been really impressed by how companies have been willing to listen to real moms lately. And we’re courted, and flown in to fun places, and plied with food and free stuff. In exchange of course, I have to deal with the logistics of making sure that my kids and other obligations are taken care of, whether I’m gone for a few hours or a few days. But it’s worth it.
I’m an infant in terms of the mommyblogging world. I’ve been blogging (on my own blogs) for about two years. But I’ve come pretty far in that time, and I thought I’d discovered all of the pitfalls. There are lots of critics who don’t like that a lot of blogging now centers on products and advertising, and I’m at peace with that. I set out almost from the beginning to make money from this, and I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I know I’ll never have the respect of that group of writers, the ones who do it just for the love of writing. To each her own. More power to them. And more advertisers for me.
What I didn’t expect was that by talking about a company, I’d be responsible for the entire history and practices of that company. And it hasn’t happened to me yet, but it’s happening right now to a group of bloggers who are at a retreat with Nestle. I don’t know where they are, I don’t know what exactly they’re doing. But they did what I would have done: they started tweeting about what they were seeing and learning. They’re using the hashtag #nestlefamily. Hashtags are a way to keep up with a conversation on twitter. You can see what’s happening with the #nestlefamily hashtag here. It’s gotten ugly. Some people starting giving the #nestlefamily bloggers shit over Nestle’s worldwide practices, and it went downhill from there.
I’m not going to touch on the complaints, some of them valid, that are being brought up by the #nestlefamily critics. That’s a different post, and frankly one I have no interest in writing. What I’m interested in is the etiquette involved here, and whether the criticisms are misplaced. I see Twitter as a big open house, and when you start a hashtag for something, it’s like saying “Hey, if you’re interested in this thing, come over here.” And if you go over to that corner of the room and listen to what’s being said, and you have a problem with it, shouting at that corner of the room is just rude. And that’s what the hashtag hijackers have done. They’ve entered into a conversation and instead of trying to add to it, even critically, they’ve shouted at the people who started it and the people who went there to hear about Nestle. If these critics were intent on changing the discussion, then the polite thing to do would have been to start a new hashtag, and tell the people in that corner of the room about it: “Hey, we disagree with what you’re doing. So we’re going to take a few steps this way and whoever wants to join this new discussion, come over here with us.”
But that wouldn’t get attention! That wouldn’t achieve controversy! No, it’s a lot easier to shout. And remember, I’m not saying that there shouldn’t have been criticism. I’m just saying it shouldn’t have been shouted in the same corner as the original discussion, completely obfuscating the original intent of the hashtag.
The other issue is the role of the bloggers who go to these events. I certainly don’t feel responsible for everything a company has done just because I like their products and have made it my job to tell other people about them. And if someone on twitter does have questions about some practices, and I am lucky enough to get the ear of an executive, I’m certainly not going to voice those concerns if I’m being beaten up for attending the event in the first place. And I’m also not going to go to an event and insult the people who invited me. That’s rude, and it’s not productive. And it’s not my job. I’ve defined my job as talking about products, and my kids, and what’s going on in my life. If I get interested about an issue I’ll pursue it (in a polite and respectful way), but yelling at me won’t achieve that.
So, eventually a senior VP from Nestle got on Twitter and started answering questions. And he really had no choice – ignoring what was going on wasn’t a good option. But it makes me a little pissed off that the shouters did have that one small victory, getting the ear of an executive by being incredibly rude. I hope that they’re not given the same level of attention as people who are calmer and open to dialogue.
The next time I’m at an event, I’ll be tweeting and whrrling and blogging about it, and doing my job. And if you shout at me, if you attempt to hijack my discussion with your agenda, I probably won’t listen.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: #nestlefamily, Twitter
At the Martha Stewart Show
Sep 30, 2009 Around NYC, What's Going On
So I’m sitting here in the audience at a taping of The Martha Stewart Show. This is my second time here – last time was a show about blogging. I’ve been to dozens of show tapings over the years, including The Daily Show (when I got him to get Stephen Colbert’s autograph for me), The Colbert Report, The View, Live with Regis and Kelly, and a bunch more. They all have some things in common. You have to wait in a lot of lines before you get to your seat, and then finally you get to sit and you’re not allowed to get up, not even to use the bathroom. You don’t have a very good view because there are a bunch of cameras in front of you. Or the action is really far away. Or the person next to you smells (not this show, the person next to me is perfectly pleasant!). And the studio is always freezing.
And I have a confession to make: I’m usually bored during most of them. It’s just not a great way to actually watch the show, but I like seeing behind-the-scenes stuff – the stuff going on when the cameras are off – so I keep going to tapings. Plus there’s always the possibility that someone will give me a car. The most I’ve ever gotten was a printer (that was the last time I was at Martha’s show). Today is different, because I was asked to bring my laptop and I’m writing this post during the taping. Sweet.
So, the entire show today is about social media – Twitter, Facebook, etc. I’m a big Twitter user. I’ve been tweeting during the show, with the hashtag #TheTechShow. I also use whrrl.com a lot – in fact I started a whrrl story about the show as soon as I stepped off of the subway. I’ll post it at the bottom of this post. Facebook? Meh. I use it occasionally to update what I’m doing if I happen to think about it, because most of the people in my neighborhood and in my family just aren’t on Twitter. But mostly Facebook annoys me. Too much crap. I don’t want a drink. I don’t want to play a game and collect things. Facebook is difficult to navigate – I like arranging things exactly the way I want them and Facebook is not very user friendly, in my opinion. But what do I know? I’m old.
But back to the show. When you go in you get directed to a seat. You might be the first one in line, and get the worst seat in the house. They seem to be putting the people with the brightest colors on in the middle (lots of grays and whites in the side sections). They send a stand-up guy out to warm the audience up before the taping starts, and usually he gets to do a bunch of material and pass out stuff from the show, but everybody was ready to go a little early today, so that part was cut short. He led us through a few practice rounds of clapping and oohing and ahhhing and then we were ready to go.
Martha looks lovely. And she’s funny! I’m always surprised at how funny she is whenever I hear her speak. Her tone says “stick up my butt” but her words say “People, I’m funny. I’m just not foolish.” So, between all of the tweeting and email checking I’ve been doing, the taping is actually almost done. It was interesting to see the show taped. The co-creator of Twitter, Biz Stone (if that is his real name!) looks really young. The creator of Facebook is practically a fetus – I think I’ve seen him playing soccer with my son. There was other stuff too, but you can watch it on the show. It airs on October 2nd, I think.
Here are some pictures from the taping (the man with Martha is David Pogue, NY Times Technology Editor).
Here’s my Twitter stream from the show (it goes from most recent tweet down to oldest), and my whrrl story below that. If you ever get a chance to go to a taping of a show, I recommend it. It’s always interesting to see how things get done. You can get tickets to a taping of the Martha Stewart show here.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Biz Stone, Facebook, The Martha Stewart Show, Twitter, whrrl
Off to Martha, hopefully clean and pretty
Sep 29, 2009 Amy in the Morning
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Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Tags: Facebook, Martha Stewart, Touarg, Twitter, Volkswagen
