-The Necessity of Transparency and Disclosure

Early on many bloggers were anonymous or assumed fictitious names to ensure their privacy. Even a number of pastors took this tact in order to be free to say whatever they wanted to online without creating a controversy in their church.

However in the long run ‘trust’ became an issue particularly among Christians. If bloggers were unwilling to share their real identities then could their observations and stories be completely trusted? Also some actually went out of their way to create controversy and responded rather badly at times to fellow believers and leaders. Transparency is now winning the day and Christians in particular should be very open and truthful about who they really are. It is a matter of integrity and credibility.

California has now even passed a law which makes it illegal to impersonate someone else online. Fictitious blogs and social media sites have been created for almost every famous person you can think of- even a few religious leaders.

Another issue that has come to the fore lately is ‘disclosure’. Some bloggers were earning good money by recommending or positively reviewing stuff on their sites or social network pages. Now if money or even free product is given for reviews it must be disclosed according to law (USA). 

On one of my sites I used to review books. I received free books from publishers to review from time to time. On another site I use to review movies and have occasionally received DVD’s from studios or have even been invited to preview a movie in the theaters for free. Now it is legally necessary for bloggers to disclose any free products or services received including books or DVDs.  Here’s a disclosure statement that I used and linked to when appropriate on my review sites:

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it or review it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”