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Sunday, March 3, 2019

PSA - Your Bartender has Never Been Paid for a Post

So, I just got the following as a comment on this morning's post just a few minutes ago:


Of course, the profile is blocked, so he or she was kind enough to cast shade without actually standing behind their words. I didn't have to approve the comment, but if I didn't I'm sure the individual in question would have used that to convince themselves and others that I was taking money to make posts for advertisers. Because you know how such shit spreads.

Just to be clear - I've never taken money to post about a product, Kickstarter or ANYTHING on the blog. When I've been provided with free product (commonly for review purpose) I've indicated such in the posts in question. When I have a personal relationship with a publisher or creator, I indicate it in the post. If there are affiliate links in a post I state so - explicitly.

Do folks bring their Kickstarters or new releases to my attention? Sure as shit they do. Do I share them all? No. Do I personally back all the Kickstarters I share? If I had limitless funds, I would, but I don't so I can't. Doesn't mean others shouldn't get a chance to make that decision for themselves.

Am I considering paid sponsorship from the community for the Tavern Chat podcast? Yes, but if I were to do so it would not be allowed to impact the content of the podcast itself - just a 15-second sponsorship spiel. And I still haven't decided if I'm going to follow that idea to implementation.  And no, I haven't taken money to talk about someone product (there were sponsorships going via Anchor for Flipboard and that was effectively a commercial)

FYI - I've been blogging at The Tavern since May 31st, 2009. This year will make 10 years. Like The Tavern or hate it, I'm not going to sully its reputation by taking money for posts now, after nearly 10 years of honest posting.

Of course, the response I initially wanted to make was not so polite ;)

8 comments:

  1. I am sorry that my question caused you to respond in this manner. I did not submit my question as being blocked. In the form where I submitted it, it states "comments as: " and then my email address.

    I asked the question simply because the post was very oddly done. It wasn't a recommendation per se. It wasn't exactly informative other than basically saying, "here is a thing, and a link to said thing." It was unlike most other posts I've read here which are generally much more informative and/or have a touch of personal touch to them. In short, it read like it might be a paid post and I wondered if in fact whether it was.

    Not sure why you initially wanted to make a post that was less polite than the one you gave. I was satisfied with that post. I didn't think a simple question by one of your followers would cause that type of reaction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The one currency bloggers and podcasters have is reputation. We don’t do any of this for the money. Insinuating that the Tavern takes money for posting about a KS is about as insulting as it gets.

      Delete
    2. Again, I was asking a question. There was no insinuation about it.

      Perhaps you could tell me how I should have asked that question. What would have been the correct way to phrase it?

      Delete
    3. The problem is in written communication inflection and tone and body language is absent.
      Erik read it with an inflection you didn't intend. So is the internet.

      Delete
    4. My two cents? A question like that in an open forum seems slightly confrontational. You're literally questioning the author's motives for posting. I think without any kind of context or previous relationship with the poster, something like that can very easily be misconstrued.

      /Perhaps you could tell me how I should have asked that question. What would have been the correct way to phrase it?/

      I very well may be speaking out of turn here, and I don't mean to answer for Eric, but I don't think it was the phrasing so much as the forum. Had you asked the same question in a PM, I think it would have been clearly answered and been a non-issue.

      Delete
    5. It was the question coupled with the anonymous / unknown / private profile that sparked the reaction in me. The Tavern has been trolled in recent months - thus the moderation of every comment (not because I like it like that but because it needs to be like that at this moment in time) and 90% of the troll have private / blocked profiles that come up as "Unknown" - It was, for lack of a better term, a Perfect Storm

      Delete
  2. Erik is the most unbiased commentator in the game community, which is why I read him. He works hard to elicit the facts and separate them from gossip and rumor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erik has unimpeachable integrity as far as blogging goes. I don't know him personally so I can't say anything else about him, but he has my respect.

    ReplyDelete

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