Union for bloggers

Hi Karel. This is a tough one. I read the article and both sides make compelling arguments. However, at this point in time I would say no to a union. The level of organisation and structure that would entail would spoil the spirit of what blogging is all about, at least for me.
Of course as a person working in communications I feel annoyed when I read other blogs and grammar, vocab and syntax rules are ignored, and I feel like screaming “we need some style rules!” but that’s just me being anal. The blogs that I’ve come across are a diverse group, from wacky to professional, from serious to comical and they each have their own niche.
That’s my li’l two cents.
Catch ya later.

The idea of bloggers unionizing is being tossed around in the USA and the UK. While I would welcome the structure a Union might bring, I would fear it may impact free speech.

I think I saw one of the first articles on this, and looking at it from where I sit, I couldn’t fathom why I’d want to join a *union*. I mean, who are we really agitating against and for what? Are we going to lobby Google for a bigger share of AdSense revenue…? (Hmmm… that might not be such a bad idea…)

Like Bajegirl said, the blogging landscape is so wide and content so varied, it might be difficult finding a simple and single platform for us all other than “I blog!”

That said, there more likely to be room for an association of professional bloggers which would look into things like writing standards, revenue opportunities and intellectual property rights. Maybe we can start something loose in the Caribbean just from a point of information sharing, and then see what happens from there. A Facebook group perhaps?

I just so don’t like the word “union”…

I think blogging needs to remain losely organized. yes while i’d like better standards especially regarding those blogs that deal in rumour and scandal I think that alot of bloggers especially new ones (myself included when i started) would probably dont start out with the writing skills to meet a professional union criteria.

also i think if bloggers are unionised it will stay rather fragmented or maybe should cause i dont see a one union fitting all working. it’ll be just like there is a carpenters union and a plumbers union and a electricians union up here we’d have a caribbean bloggers union and a political blogs union and a sports blog union and a afro-american bloggers union etc.

still it is interesting that its even being considered

I do not think there should be a union, this implies what can and cannot be done - my view is there should be an ASSOCIATION. Perhaps where International Freedom Of Press could be lobbied? Also I like Keith’s idea of a bigger slice of Ad-Sense!

Hi Karel. I read the article and I still can’t wrap my mind around bloggers and a union. Bloggers have one thing for certain in common - they post writings of some kind on the internet for the public to see. Apart from that, anything goes. People blog on a whim, on a personal level, for families, to prepare for a book deal, as part of a corporate web-presence… Like jdid said, even if there was a union, there’d have to be so very many of them anyway to meet these diverse populations.

Blogging is such an individual tool for getting one’s thoughts and writings out there, unionising (while still impossible for me to conceptualise) would change the nature of the blog.

Not to mention the prevalence of anonymous bloggers…what would we do in a union?

I’d support some level of voluntary organisation, perhaps to set standards and offer assistance, but the truth is, there is already alot of this going on - people form communities, contribute to a joint blog by authors with common interests and pre-existing blogs. I agree with Keith that perhaps this is something that could be done for the Caribbean bloggers - a more active and organised community by those who are interested so there’s a collaborative presence.

But the blog should be able to and does exist without any of that. And I like it that way.

I’m not for a union. All I can see in my head is the bacchanal that ensues from labour unions.

Seriously though, I think that a union will just attempt to put some bloggers in straightjackets. The beauty of blogging is its underground appeal that has so much impact above ground.

I don’t mind an association or a club. If the interest in blogging is to make money out of it, then channel your entrepreneurial spirit, because honestly, even if a union tries to help us all get paid, remember there are millions of bloggers, so there’ll be lots of competition.