During my Hyku College Tour I had breakfast with Dan Rua in Gainesville, FL. For those of you that do not know, Dan is one of the VC's behind PayPerPost. I've been critical of PPP, so I wasn't sure what direction our talk was going to take. As always it's good to be able to meet with people in person, it adds a different level to the conversation.
Dan and I talked about a number of issues, but one topic that interested me was DisclosurePolicy.org. The site was created in response to the complaints that PPP was not forcing users to disclose any payments from advertisers for blog posts written. DisclosurePolicyl.org allows a user to create a policy based upon a few variables. The system is similar to Creative Commons in this way. Like PPP, there was quite a bit of discussion about the validity of DisclosurePolicy.org and perhaps a hidden agenda when it was launched.
Having talked in person with Dan I think I can say there is no hidden agenda, he just wanted to put a tool/service out there for people to use. Yes, the launch was somewhat of a band-aid for PPP's transparency issues, but the basics of the service should be evaluated independent of that. Dan's big question was, "If anybody but PayPerPost had released it, do you think it would have been accepted differently?"
I think there would not have as much skepticism surrounding DisclosurePolicy.org if PPP were not involved. That's for sure. Dan said he attempted to reach out to WOMMA, but WOMMA wasn't reaching back. This was most likely because of two things:
1. Obviously PayPerPost's involvement with the project caused WOMMA to back away. The last thing an organization like WOMMA wants to do is associate themselves with an organization that has become a big target for disclosure.
2. WOMMA was just about to launch their blogger relations initiative and follow that up with the Dell announcement so they probably weren't interested in diluting their efforts.
All this leads back to Dan's question. What if somebody else led the charge?
Of course we might end up with a number of solutions. Today blogs have numerous chicklets on their sidebar's promoting a variety of RSS feed options, i.e. Add to Blogline, Add to NewsGator, Add to MyYahoo!, etc.... Will we soon see blogs with buttons listing all their disclosure policies and ethical guidelines? How about a disclosure policy MicroFormat?
What are your thoughts on DisclosurePolicy.org and along the same lines the new WOMMA guidelines?
Visitor Comments
Josh: Thanks for the coverage/link of DisclosurePolicy.org. After talking/listening to you and many others, I can answer my own question from above: Yes, DisclosurePolicy.org would have been accepted differently if launched by someone other than PPP. The answer isn't a surprise, but worth moving beyond to the real opportunity.
The next question becomes: Can the blogosphere move past who launched DisclosurePolicy.org and get behind a Disclosure Policy framework that promotes transparency long-term at the blogger level (rather than relying on marketers/WOMMA to define transparency)?
With so many new marketing platforms and diverse transparency expectations, the blogosphere would benefit from finding common ground to build from. Disclosure Policies can be that common ground specifically because their contents can handle diverse beliefs and evolve with new media, new platforms and new guidelines. It all starts with a blogger telling his/her readers what they can expect from the author. Leaving those expectations unstated (or hard to find without a linked DP) is the root of the problem to be solved.
Thanks again for the coverage and for highlighting DisclosurePolicy.org as a distinct topic worth discussing. Your blog is so open (even showing your travel schedule), I'd love to see your Disclosure Policy after trying the DP Generator and editing to your voice/practices. The DP tools are beta-level and will only get better with use and feedback...
Posted by: DP Dan | November 27, 2006 11:53 AM
I like the idea behind DP but (damn, three puns in a row w/out even meaning it...) it needs to be simpler like CC is. I just went through the policy creation and spent too much time trying to read the nuances among the options. Also, the resulting policy needs to be easy for the public to interpret (a la CC). Good idea, but needs some refinement to be usable for me.
Posted by: Chris Scott | November 27, 2006 2:01 PM
Josh --
Just to clarify the history, WOMMA has had many extensive, hours-long conversations with Dan and PayPerPost.
We have shared our concerns about their model, and about the fact that DisclosurePolicy.org isn't in fact a non-profit .org, as they represent, which raises additional serious disclosure issues.
The ethics process is complicated and fragile, and requires a true open, transparent discussion by all stakeholders.
Andy Sernovitz
CEO
WOMMA
Posted by: Andy Sernovitz | November 28, 2006 8:37 AM
@Andy:
1) I believe Josh was just paraphrasing WOMMA's response to my outreach on collaborating when he said "WOMMA wasn't reaching back". I shared with him that we have spoken and I even shared that I understand why it could be difficult for you to embrace something that mirrors WOMMA's goals so closely, given PPP launched it.
2) As we grow multiple entities embracing a Disclosure Policy framework then we have the makings of a non-profit association (similar to WOMMA's start by for-profit BzzAgent and others). Even though PPP funded the launch, we created a .org with such collaboration in mind and have represented nothing less. I'd also note that the official registrar of .ORG TLDs specifically FAQs that .ORG is an unrestricted TLD that anyone can register, including for-profit companies.
Hand-waving about non-profits is just distracting from the real question. Can you move past who launched DisclosurePolicy.org and get behind a Disclosure Policy framework that promotes transparency long-term at the blogger level (rather than relying on marketers alone to define transparency)? I believe DP.org and WOMMA efforts are quite synergistic, so let's spend our cycles doing something positive together...WOMMA marketers, bloggers, and consumer generated media as a whole will benefit from widespread Disclosure Policy adoption -- it's something mainstream media cannot match.
Posted by: DP Dan | November 28, 2006 12:23 PM