Ad Sense

~POST SCRIPT ADDED BELOW~

Preface: I nearly talked myself out of posting this, because I realized that I would probably piss off and/or alienate a lot of bloggers that I genuinely admire and respect. But I've never shied away from expressing an opinion for the sake of preserving my popularity. Sometimes that has served me well, others....not so much.

So please understand, that although I am expressing a view that might be opposite of yours, and though I might disagree with a decision you have made, that does not negate my very profound admiration for you as people, bloggers or mothers.


It will likely come as no surprise to anybody who knows or has been reading me for any length of time, that I have strong opinions on a myriad of topics. I yak about religion and spirituality a lot. I yammer about women's issues and child rearing and learning disabilities and the deplorable state of our country's educational system.

But I don't usually bitch about blogging itself (usually being the operative word. I've put my two cents worth in here and there.) I don't whine about mean girl bloggers or bloggy cliques, I don't snark about the Mommy wars or post nasty comments on blogs that might espouse a view that is divergent from my own. It's not worth the time or effort, frankly, and life is too short to go around with a stick up your ass all the time. Plus, it makes sodomy really difficult, which isn't really all that big a big deal seeing as how it is still officially illegal in this here draconian State.

But anyway....I am going to broach this issue, because I think, as has happened with so many entertainment venues, both internet and real life, the blogosphere is being inundated with and cheapened by....commercialism.

Yep. I'm going to talk about Ads.

First let me make clear that I don't begrudge anybody a little advertising generated income. I really don't. I've considered it myself, to be perfectly honest. If one has decent writing skills, a voice that resonates with a wide audience, and a flair for self promotion, then far be it from me to complain. A couple little unobstrusive ads that I have the privilege of clicking or not clicking, are not, in and of themselves, enough to turn me into a fuming ball of apoplectic indignance.

Let's be candid...intellectual property doesn't just manufacture itself. Many writers out there agonize over every word. They don't just write, they craft. They put so much of themselves into their writing that it's a true gift to read.

And being consistently funny isn't always as effortless as it seems either. Ask any comedienne out there, funny doesn't just fall out of the sky. Sure, there is that rare blogger who can just be funny without even trying, (coughJesscough) but often, just as much blood, sweat and tears go into the funny pieces as the serious, intellectual or literary ones.

The point is that before the blogosphere, we would have to pay to read the kind of things bloggers are now writing, either to purchase print media, or to subscribe to a site or service where they could be accessed.

So very few writers make into print, though there is an abundance of undiscovered talent out there. I think it's wonderful that voices we might never have heard are being disseminated, shared, and enjoyed by a perhaps wider audience than they would have otherwise, if ever.

So again, I hold no grudges against those who have ads on their stie.

Unless.

It takes 3 minutes for me to load your blog, during which time, all the other browsers I have open are rendered inactive and inaccessible and which may or may not culminate in my browser crashing or freezing, thereby necessitating a reboot.

That irritates the living piss out of me, and as much as I might love you, love your writing, love reading about your cute but clueless husband, your adorable kid, or your clever pet(s)...I'm crossing you off the blogroll.

And are any you familiar with PayPerPost? Maybe I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I had never heard of this until a few days ago. I was honestly taken aback that someone would actually write an ad on their blog. Their personal blog. Where people come to read about them. Their family. Their life. It's politely called a "sponsored post". I call it whoring out your blog.

"Well, it's that time again, back to school. And I was just saying to my husband the other day, that I just couldn't face another school year without thisamazingproduct."

I'm really trying to go easy on the judgementalism, but that is just about the tackiest thing I have ever seen in my life. It's like giving a dinner party and then busting out the Tupperware between the appetizers and the main course, holding your starving guests hostage while they listen to some brainwashed drone extoll the virtues of overpriced plastic food storage.

People...like so many of the novel concepts that have been birthed by the internet, the commercialism of the blogosphere is undermining and cheapening the very principles it was built upon.

Community. Comraderie. The free exchange of thoughts, ideas and information. Sharing our talent and creativity. The solicitation of support, advice and constructive criticism.

The blogosphere was, at its inception, bursting with potential...potential that has now been harnessed by advertisers to promote the ever pervasive interests of capitalism and commercialism. They are using OUR creative energy to sell their products. And by and large, they are reaping most of the benefits.

Are we going to stand by and let that happen?

Well, it appears that some of us, at least, are.

But mostly, I think, bloggers who don't care about their readers (and the comments they leave) are a rarity. I think there are still a lot of us who believe in the sanctity of blogging, as dramatic and cheesy as that may sound. I think some have really agonized over allowing ads on their blogs, and there are bloggers who ultimately did decide to allow ads did knowing the implications and imprecations that might garner. Their decision to place ads was an informed one, and I can't argue with that.

As I said, I've considered installing ads on my blog. I do take a lot of pride in it and I put a lot of time and thought into my content. And I do it for nothing. But you know what? That's a choice I made when I decided to create a blog. I didn't come into this thinking of it as an income vehicle, and I'm not going to jump on that bandwagon now that I have a somewhat regular readership. I've decided that I won't be putting up ads.

I know, I know, yay me. Honestly, I don't expect a friggin Altruistic Blogger award or anything. I just want you to keep reading and I want you to not want to beat your head against the wall while doing so.

I think it's time to take back the blogosphere.

Now, I'll either get a whole lot of support, or I'll be listening to the crickets chirp from now on.

I prefer the former, but if the latter happens, at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I was true to myself and my principals. Then again...principals don't leave comments, so....still like me, okay?

POST SCRIPT:

I want to thank everyone for all the great feedback. I am so gratified by the way everyone has made their respective points in a really constructive manner. I've seen some really down and dirty stuff on other blogs and the fact that this discussion has not deteriorated into a cat fight or pissing contest just goes to show what great readers I have.

That said...some of you commented that my blog is slow to load because of widgets and I will rectify that. I wasn't aware, since I have no problems loading it myself. I'm grateful for the head's up.

For those of you who provided links and a professional point of view, I appreciate what you have added to the discussion. I think it's important to examine issues like these from every angle.

I mentioned this in my comments, but I'll post it here too. The reason I only publish a portion of my posts via my feeds is that I discovered an aggregator (Bitacle.org) was pirating all my content (and that of many, many, many other bloggers) and making money off of it. Originally, they did not credit the authors or link back to the originating blog. Aggregators can't scrape my content if I don't publish a full feed. You can read about it here.

Thanks again to all. I honestly expected to get raked over the coals, but you have demonstrated the kind of grace, intelligence, and thoughtfulness that has drawn me to so many of you.