Martha Stewart, I'm no Expert, but . . .
. . . I am a blogger. And I'm as qualified to be a blogger as you are.
Martha Stewart seems to have gotten blogging and corporate web-presence confused. In an interview on Bloomburg Martha states that she has a minor gripe about bloggers because "who are these bloggers? They're not trained editors of Vogue Magazine. I mean, there are bloggers writing recipes that aren't tested, that aren't necessarily very good or are copies of everything that really good editors have created or done. So bloggers create a kind of . . . umm, umm, popularity. But they are not the experts. And we have to understand that."
Well, that just kinda irritated me. Because, truly, Martha herself is not an expert either! She has a staff that writes her blog posts. She has a staff that markets her products. And I expect she has a legal staff who negotiates using the MS name on products that have been developed by other people.
This is just my opinion, but, honestly, the Martha of many many years ago was more personable than the Martha of today. The Martha of today has nothing more in her focus than to expand her corporation as much as she can.
I think Martha needs to read what a blog is so that she can better understand what a blogger is. A blogger is NOT a trained editor! A blogger is an individual with something to share. And, blogging started with individuals, not with trained editors from corporate giants.
This article on About.com says: "The earliest blogs started in the late 1990s as online diaries. Individuals posted information on a daily basis about their lives and opinions. The daily posts were listed in reverse date order, so readers viewed the most recent post first and scrolled through previous posts. The format provided an ongoing inner monologue from the writer.
As blogs evolved, interactive features were added to create a two-way conversation. Readers took advantage of features that allowed them to leave comments on blog posts or link to posts on other blogs and websites to further the dialogue."
This article on eHow says: "For the most part, blogs have three features that set them apart from other types of websites. A blog's content is usually updated far more frequently than a regular site. Blogs can also be syndicated. You can read a blog through a web browser or through a feed, This means that people can read the posts on a blog without actually visiting the site. Blogs also offer a community feel and conversation."
Now, from what I'm reading blogs didn't start out as mind-numbing drivel put out by trained editors and I don't think blogs should ever evolve to that. And bloggers didn't start out as "trained editors" and I don't think bloggers should back away and disappear into the past and allow trained editors to take over!
To carry my feelings out to the area of blogging I am most interested in I will share with you a blog post from Jenny Rohrs over at Craft Test Dummies. I first saw the video in a Craft Test Dummies facebook post. In the comments of that post I stated: "I have several MS products and I hate to hear her say this because it WILL influence my future purchases. I won't get rid of everything I have that has her name on it, but I doubt I will add any new MS to my stash.
And, I'm sure she isn't referencing the MS blog with that comment, because, you know, she has professionals hired to write her blog, test her recipes, develop her craft line and basically be the [bogus] crafter she obviously is not. I say that because a true crafter would know the value of the craft world blogosphere!
Personally, I would rather have the blogger input of the everyday crafter with a real life hands on experience than that of the craft lab test associate working in a controlled environment room with access to her entire line of products who never has to overcome lack of product or variables in temperature, humidity etc.. Because, what does that craft lab test associate really know about finding a crafty solution to something that just didn't actually work the way the manufacturer claimed it would? Nothing! Give me real people! (Obviously Martha has now lost what little respect I might have still had for her!)
Personally, I would rather have the blogger input of the everyday crafter with a real life hands on experience than that of the craft lab test associate working in a controlled environment room with access to her entire line of products who never has to overcome lack of product or variables in temperature, humidity etc.. Because, what does that craft lab test associate really know about finding a crafty solution to something that just didn't actually work the way the manufacturer claimed it would? Nothing! Give me real people! (Obviously Martha has now lost what little respect I might have still had for her!)"
Jenny is hosting a Bloggers Link Party, so go over there and add your blog to the link list!
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I am also sharing a blog post from Carolina Moore over at Crafty Hangouts. Carolina is also hosting a link party, but she is looking for video responses. Go to her blog for that one:
Crafty Hangouts: Martha says, "Bloggers are No Experts":
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I hope there is enough internet chatter about this that it will get back to Martha Stewart and hopefully she will reconsider having such disdain for the blogging community and recognize that she actually relies on these untrained non-editor type [craft] bloggers to share their views of her products. I think that for as much as craft bloggers can have a positive influence on other crafters with regard to buying MS products, they too can have a negative impact. And it doesn't necessarily have to be done with what a craft blogger says, but can easily be done with what the craft blogger does not say! Because I can't tell you how many craft products I have purchased because it was mentioned in a craft blog. If these products are not mentioned, no interest is gained. Just sayin'.
Here is a link to the Bloomburg video: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/martha-stewart-speaks-out-bloggers-are-not-experts-ERw6xWfeSCKd~bRGzSsHxQ.html
Martha Stewart seems to have gotten blogging and corporate web-presence confused. In an interview on Bloomburg Martha states that she has a minor gripe about bloggers because "who are these bloggers? They're not trained editors of Vogue Magazine. I mean, there are bloggers writing recipes that aren't tested, that aren't necessarily very good or are copies of everything that really good editors have created or done. So bloggers create a kind of . . . umm, umm, popularity. But they are not the experts. And we have to understand that."
Well, that just kinda irritated me. Because, truly, Martha herself is not an expert either! She has a staff that writes her blog posts. She has a staff that markets her products. And I expect she has a legal staff who negotiates using the MS name on products that have been developed by other people.
This is just my opinion, but, honestly, the Martha of many many years ago was more personable than the Martha of today. The Martha of today has nothing more in her focus than to expand her corporation as much as she can.
I think Martha needs to read what a blog is so that she can better understand what a blogger is. A blogger is NOT a trained editor! A blogger is an individual with something to share. And, blogging started with individuals, not with trained editors from corporate giants.
This article on About.com says: "The earliest blogs started in the late 1990s as online diaries. Individuals posted information on a daily basis about their lives and opinions. The daily posts were listed in reverse date order, so readers viewed the most recent post first and scrolled through previous posts. The format provided an ongoing inner monologue from the writer.
As blogs evolved, interactive features were added to create a two-way conversation. Readers took advantage of features that allowed them to leave comments on blog posts or link to posts on other blogs and websites to further the dialogue."
This article on eHow says: "For the most part, blogs have three features that set them apart from other types of websites. A blog's content is usually updated far more frequently than a regular site. Blogs can also be syndicated. You can read a blog through a web browser or through a feed, This means that people can read the posts on a blog without actually visiting the site. Blogs also offer a community feel and conversation."
Now, from what I'm reading blogs didn't start out as mind-numbing drivel put out by trained editors and I don't think blogs should ever evolve to that. And bloggers didn't start out as "trained editors" and I don't think bloggers should back away and disappear into the past and allow trained editors to take over!
To carry my feelings out to the area of blogging I am most interested in I will share with you a blog post from Jenny Rohrs over at Craft Test Dummies. I first saw the video in a Craft Test Dummies facebook post. In the comments of that post I stated: "I have several MS products and I hate to hear her say this because it WILL influence my future purchases. I won't get rid of everything I have that has her name on it, but I doubt I will add any new MS to my stash.
And, I'm sure she isn't referencing the MS blog with that comment, because, you know, she has professionals hired to write her blog, test her recipes, develop her craft line and basically be the [bogus] crafter she obviously is not. I say that because a true crafter would know the value of the craft world blogosphere!
Personally, I would rather have the blogger input of the everyday crafter with a real life hands on experience than that of the craft lab test associate working in a controlled environment room with access to her entire line of products who never has to overcome lack of product or variables in temperature, humidity etc.. Because, what does that craft lab test associate really know about finding a crafty solution to something that just didn't actually work the way the manufacturer claimed it would? Nothing! Give me real people! (Obviously Martha has now lost what little respect I might have still had for her!)
Personally, I would rather have the blogger input of the everyday crafter with a real life hands on experience than that of the craft lab test associate working in a controlled environment room with access to her entire line of products who never has to overcome lack of product or variables in temperature, humidity etc.. Because, what does that craft lab test associate really know about finding a crafty solution to something that just didn't actually work the way the manufacturer claimed it would? Nothing! Give me real people! (Obviously Martha has now lost what little respect I might have still had for her!)"
Jenny is hosting a Bloggers Link Party, so go over there and add your blog to the link list!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crafty Hangouts: Martha says, "Bloggers are No Experts":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope there is enough internet chatter about this that it will get back to Martha Stewart and hopefully she will reconsider having such disdain for the blogging community and recognize that she actually relies on these untrained non-editor type [craft] bloggers to share their views of her products. I think that for as much as craft bloggers can have a positive influence on other crafters with regard to buying MS products, they too can have a negative impact. And it doesn't necessarily have to be done with what a craft blogger says, but can easily be done with what the craft blogger does not say! Because I can't tell you how many craft products I have purchased because it was mentioned in a craft blog. If these products are not mentioned, no interest is gained. Just sayin'.
Here is a link to the Bloomburg video: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/martha-stewart-speaks-out-bloggers-are-not-experts-ERw6xWfeSCKd~bRGzSsHxQ.html
Very interesting...I had not heard this comment (katy from Blitsy). Thanks for the interesting post and thanks for grabbing our button :)
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