Whenever someone talks about bloggers, the topic of paid or sponsored posts always comes up. Ahead of Pesta Blogger 2010 in Jakarta this Saturday, The Jakarta Globe brings up the issue with Enda Nasution, a prominent Indonesian blogger, as well as Ong Hock Chuan whose company, Maverick, is the organizer of the event.
In terms of paid blogging, Enda he [said] that it shouldn’t be a problem as long as the writer is honest. A disclaimer is needed whenever an author writes about a client or a product. “
If readers think the blogger puts up too much sponsored content, people will eventually feel it. If they don’t like it, they will leave the blog,” he said.
In essence, paid blogging is seen as an acceptable practice as long as the author discloses the fact or makes it obvious in some other way. Excessive sponsored posts also tend to deter readers which means while it’s not a regulated practice, there’s an ethical aspect that bloggers need to acknowledge and at the end of the day it’s up to them what kind of readers they want for their blogs and the perception people that might have.
Jakarta Globe takes a look at sponsored blogging ahead of Pesta Blogger 2010