Now that brand PR marketing seems to have shifted focus to other forms of social media, leaving blogs and bloggers a little out in the cold, I’ve noticed another shift in the dynamics of bloggers and blogging. I’ve noticed a shift to the other extreme, where bloggers seem to prefer to adopt a “no-PR” approach.
What some bloggers have chosen to do, is to not navigate the PR jungle, and not accept products for editorial consideration or reviews. Some had been PR-friendly before this, but no longer want to be for various reasons – the perceived loss of personal integrity, or a quest to downscale their product collection, or just a loss of interest in beauty blogging in general. Some have been sidelined by brands or PR, for reasons no one can fully understand. From a fellow sidelined blogger, I fully commiserate!
I see nothing wrong in not accepting PR products – I do it as well, to a degree, where I choose to adopt a stricter, more selective approach. I buy a lot of my own crap (my affectionate endearment for my beauty buys LOL! 😀 ) and I accept some. If I’m uncomfortable or unlikely to use what I may receive unsolicited, I return them. If I don’t receive something I’m interested in, I buy it. That’s how I roll these days.
But that’s not what I’m on about today. What makes me a little uncomfortable, is with what I’d term “PR Product Shaming” where people say things to a blogger with the conscious or unconscious intention to make a PR-friendly blogger feel ashamed, or uncomfortable about accepting PR products for editorial consideration.
