If you’re a blogger that receives any kind of payment, whether in the form of cash in exchange for writing a blog post or in the form of free products you’re reviewing on your blog, you are now subject to following new guidelines put into rule yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission.

For the first time in 29 years, the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising has been amended and specifically targets new media outlets which includes not only blogging, but also Facebook and Twitter. If you have not yet been introduced to the new 81-page document or you do not have access to someone possessing the eccentric skill set needed to decipher the document, it basically comes down to bloggers that are paid in any way by a company to positively portray a company or a company’s product, are now mandated to disclose any relationship had with said company. The new guidelines are only subject to US bloggers, who I suppose also have their websites hosted in the United States. However, if a US blogger is found guilty (yes, in actual court) they could be subject to pay up to $11,000 in fines.

As a so-called professional blogger who makes a nominal income from my blog and as a blogger who severely depends on professional, business relationships with several companies and people who provide products and services that I am fortunate enough to have the ability to comment on through my writing, I obviously have quite a few thoughts about the FTC’s new guidelines. In my opinion, this is merely an attempt to put the putsch in motion to initiative even more guidelines and mandates on bloggers in the future. Let’s face it, blogging is the newest media revolution; although people have been sharing their thoughts on the internet for years, as soon as bloggers found a way to make an income from doing what they love, the government decided to stick its nose in it. Social media as a whole is constantly evolving and it was only a matter of time before the government decided to rule over the people and their freedom of speech, but this really just smells like an impending can of worms. How is the FTC going to know what bloggers don’t have disclosures on a blog post, especially considering a great deal of “professional” bloggers whose blogs make up their entire income, update their websites a dozen or more times every day. How is the FTC going to keep up with the constantly-evolving social media that it obviously doesn’t understand now? What is the truth behind FTC’s new blogging rules?

David Risley makes a great point about government interference in social media:

“I think the free market takes care of this problem far faster and far more efficiently than a government bureaucracy. The moment one discovers a quid pro quo for a review, the entire reputation of a blogger is cast into question. Those kinds of people don’t usually last long, and the backlash can be severe in the social media circles.”

Again, only time will tell what the FTC does with its new mandated guidelines for bloggers who review or accept other forms of compensation for the hard work they put into their blogs every day and as far as I’m concerned, I’m not looking forward to the first court case where the government tries to take down a blogger.