There's a poll taking place on something called Circle of Moms to find the 'Top 25 Most Inspiring Families'. Our blog was selected as one of the candidates. Initially I agreed for us to be included but then asked for us to be removed.
The thing is, it's not an objective poll. Anyone can vote. Which means, for example, that I could ask my 1300 Twitter followers - plus my friends who have thousands more followers - to visit the site and vote.
And what would that prove? That this blog and our family is the most 'inspiring'? No, it would simply prove that I was good at getting loads of people to click a button. Fabulous news for Circle of Moms' marketing department who could use the increase in hits to attract more advertisers.
(If they were genuinely interested in sharing inspiring blogs with their members, they'd simply create a list of those blogs, surely?)
In itself, I don't have a problem with their tactics. I work in advertising, after all. What I do have a problem with is that it has a whiff of exploitation about it. Which is to say: I'm not having my daughter used as a promotional tool for something I wasn't even aware of 24 hours ago.
In fact, I'm not having my daughter used as a promotional tool for anything.
* Addendum: Reading this back, I can see why I might appear over-sensitive about this. It's just that I get very touchy about Maggie and, if you like, her place in the world. I know that this blog itself could be seen as 'promotion' or what have you - and even here, I'm often uncomfortable, thinking that it's us expoliting her in some way. If you see what I mean.
Oh, I don't know - maybe I just need to get a grip and calm down a bit.
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Totally agree with you .Your blog isn't seen as a promotion.i just wish you would blog more about Maggie.Your story is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right - you don't need a marketing tag masquerading as an award to tell you that your family story is inspiring - that's why we read your blog. And no, what you do is not exploiting Maggie - it's helping impart some measure of understanding in a small corner of the world - that's a good thing for Maggie and the wider community.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can't say I'm not disappointed that we will not be competing against each other for most inspiring family. After all, what is more inspiring than children and parents with a terminal disease or a half-a-brain (our category!) competing against one another. But, I do get what you are saying about it being a marketing ploy, which has bothered me ever since I realised. But, by that point, I'd already contacted all the grandparents and that was a point of no return for us! Love the Mother's Day photos!
ReplyDeleteI have only just found out about this voting lark, too late to vote (just as well, I suppose). I have read through a few of the blogs in the competition and quite honestly they are nowhere near as interesting and good as yours and Stacie's. I have been following you both for a while and hope you will continue to sound off about whatever is happening in your world. It isn't exploitation at all - it is vital information for health care professionals. Just hope some of them read it.
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