Trusting the blogosphere

[Commentary] The Web and social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter have elevated individuals' influence and transformed word-of-mouth into a global force. Recognizing the shift, some marketers have tried to insinuate their pitches into the grass-roots commentary, often by rewarding the people who sing their products' praises. Under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines, wherever an advertiser sponsors a message, its involvement has to be disclosed. But the FTC's examples of what constitutes sponsorship set an unreasonably low threshold for blog posts to be treated as ads, potentially turning ethical lapses into violations of federal law. Merely receiving review copies of games, gadgets or discs for free -- as critics in traditional media routinely do -- could bring bloggers under the FTC's purview. The commission argues that the guidelines probably wouldn't apply to professional journalists, and that amateur bloggers would just have to disclose the freebies. Yet the risk of $11,000 penalties could easily discourage some would-be reviewers and harm sites that rely on amateurs to rate products and services. There's also a practical problem. E-commerce sites and social networks are generating an overwhelming amount of information about products and services, only some of which is genuine. Yet the best thing about the Internet is that the masses do a remarkable job of calling out fakery and unethical behavior. Many websites help in this process by giving users effective tools for rating a reviewer's credibility. The result is a wealth of feedback that provides great insights for consumers. As it tries to crack down on deceptive practices online, the FTC should take care not to cut off that flow of information.