Bloggers of the World, Unite! (or not)

August 6, 2007 |

I came across a very interesting story from the USA Today about a growing movement amongst bloggers to unionize.

My initial reaction, “wow, what a horrendous idea.”

Reading more only confirmed my opinion.

I am not a fan of labor unions, at least not in the form we currently see. That, however, is a subject for a political debate, and outside the purview of this blog. The way in which this article does relate to this blog is that perhaps bloggers should look to REALTORS when it comes to decisions of organization.

Bloggers and REALTORS have quite a bit in common. First and foremost, the individuals that make up each group are independent contractors. The vast majority of bloggers, even those that are paid for their blogging, are not employees of a corporation. They contract with people who pay them for posts, or they negotiate contracts for advertising on their blogs. This is similar to REALTORS, who contract independently with their clients. Another similarity the two groups share is their size. The National Association of REALTORS is one of the largest trade associations in America, with over 1 MILLION members. According to figures from the USA Today article, a legitimate blogging organization could easily be that big, if it were to gain even a reasonable popularity amongst bloggers.

As REALTORS can attest to, with a membership as large and diverse as the NAR, coming to any sort of consensus can be difficult, even at the local level. This is amongst people who share a common profession that has common practices. I shudder to think how difficult it would be to get bloggers on the same page when it came to certain issues.

While I don’t think formal unionization is the best thing for bloggers, the industry might derive benefit from some sort of professional organization similar to NAR. The most obvious benefit would be that it would legitimize, to some degree, the practice of blogging. This is an issue with which many bloggers are faced. A professional organization that could devise and enforce a set of professional standards might actually be a good thing.

The article also mentioned the idea of health insurance for bloggers. While this sounds like a great idea for me, I don’t think I would use the argument put forth by Susie Madrak, a blogger quoted in the article, and a proponent of unionization:

Madrak hopes that regardless the form, the labor movement ultimately will help bloggers pay for medical bills. It’s important, she said, because some bloggers can spend hours a day tethered to computers as they update their websites.

“Blogging is very intense — physically, mentally,” she said. “You’re constantly scanning for news. You’re constantly trying to come up with information that you think will mobilize your readers. In the meantime, you’re sitting at a computer and your ass is getting wider and your arm and neck and shoulder are wearing out because you’re constantly using a mouse.”

Isn’t this just a great quote?  First of all, I don’t understand how an activity can be physically intense AND cause your butt to get bigger; maybe its just me.  Look, I understand that blogging is time-consuming, but there is no reason it should be adversely affecting the blogger’s health.  If it is, and the blogger isn’t getting paid or doing it professionally, then perhaps an analysis of priorities is in order.  I doubt that insurance companies are going to line up to give good rates to people who claim health problems as a result of an activity that brings them no real income.
Joking aside, it will be interesting to see how this issue progresses.  Sure, I guess that bloggers everywhere could unite and form their own union, but I just don’t like it.  There is something about blogging that seems inherently opposed to such an idea.  If, one day, a blogging union does manage to form, you can count me out.  This zebra would much rather roam the open, free plains of the blogosphere.

[tags] blog, blogging, union, charlottesville, real estate, realtor [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Blogging, News, Uncategorized 

Comments

6 Responses to “Bloggers of the World, Unite! (or not)”

  1. Jeff Brown on August 7th, 2007 3:25 am

    OK, that’s it! It’s past time to write our Senators and Congressmen about writing a new law. For lack of a better word we’ll call it Felony Stupid.

    Who are they going to negotiate with for higher pay? What moron wants to wait in line to be an apprentice blogger? Oh wait, another moron.

    There are some things in life so stupid you simply cannot make them up, because nobody would believe you.

    Who’s gonna want to unionize next - Red Cross volunteers?

    This is my winner so far for 2007.

    [Reply]

  2. Lani on August 7th, 2007 4:41 am

    Count me out. Way out. As in past the no-longer-a-planet-Pluto… that far out.

    I’d rather shut up and not blog than join a “union.” Btw, unions are rare down here and legislators (and locals) don’t look so kindly on this movement.

    [Reply]

  3. Flat Fee Realty Louisville on August 7th, 2007 6:34 am

    I see your point, but I really don’t think it is that wrong for bloggers to want a union. At least then they would be able to have stable benefits.

    [Reply]

  4. Woody on August 15th, 2007 8:39 pm

    Right on target, Daniel.

    In most cases, no one hired these people to blog. With what management do they negotiate?? And if you ARE hired to write blogs for a company, you probably have a few other duties as well in corporate communications…. the blogger’s union is too specific to cover you.

    Seems that what these bloggers want is a “pay-to-play” situation, in which case why not be up front and create one? Then they’ll see who their readers really are :-)

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  5. Erik Hersman on August 15th, 2007 9:36 pm

    I couldn’t agree more. I found it painful to consider, much less read.

    [Reply]

  6. Jim Cronin on August 15th, 2007 11:27 pm

    I really don’t ever see this happening.
    Kind of an oxymoron: blogger union: contained chaos?

    [Reply]

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