What I feel about the unethical blogging practices ( response to Xiaxue's post )

I'm sure everyone has seen the mind blowing posts that an extremely famous blogger, Xiaxue (whom I do admire very much) made about the unethical practices by Gushcloud agency.

If you have not, here's a couple of links:
1. The exposing of Gushcloud part 1
2. Part 2 of the exposing
3. Mothership SG's posts with Singtel clarifying the matter 
http://mothership.sg/2015/03/xiaxues-expose-part-2-singtel-clarifies-that-it-didnt-issue-the-brief-to-smear-its-competitors/

Before giving a post about this, I'd clarify that I'm absolutely not trying to slander or offend anyone. But really, unethical practices by these bloggers put the rest of us to shame. 

How do you expect the world to treat bloggers seriously? And no matter how much you're getting paid, one should never go against basic ethics. 

1. It is okay to have advertisements, but one should never favour one company at the expense of another. And what's worse, allegedly lie about the reason they chose this company over another. 

When I first saw Eunice Annabel's tweet about the bad service by her then service provider, I undoubtedly questioned. What are the chances, that one provider fails like that, and it happens to not appear to affect anyone else except them? And if a provider failed a service, wouldn't it have been easier to ask why it was so? Perhaps an issue occurred within one's own devices. But without investigation, there is no way to ascertain exactly which party was at fault. So her just chucking away her then provider was definitely spooky. Now I wanna say this: I like Eunice Annabel. I love her style, it's classy and elegant. Would this make me not want to like her? No. But definitely, it would make me question people who sponsor her and whether the "briefs" she is given by these companies are equally questionable. So it's really not about whether or not I would still like these bloggers. It's gonna make supporters wonder, if the brands that they are influenced by these people to support are really what the advertisers claim them to be. And who would want to sponsor you if you're being questioned about the way you advertise things? 

Moral of the story: STOP BEING DISHONEST if you currently are. Stop crafting up tales for your own personal gain. And don't favour one sponsor AT THE EXPENSE of another company that's rivalling it. 

2. Don't be a blind follower. 
As I've said before, I admire both these bloggers. Heck, I give respect to every blogger out there. But there's a thing about being a blind follower, and being a smart one. I'll still like her style, I'll still say she's pretty, but I'll have to judge by myself whether or not I'm going to give support to her sponsors. Now I wouldn't deny that many followers already do that, but I'm pretty certain that there are blind followers too. 

Moral of the story: You can support, give love to someone you admire, but you shouldn't lose yourself in the process. 

And for myself, well. I'm probably going to just freelance as usual, being the tiny blogger I am. And here's a great lesson for every blogger out there: be honest about your reviews. Be honest about the information you give. Otherwise, you're gonna go down the slippery slope of being questioned about your ethics which could make you lose money. And I hope that by giving an opinion, I can hear more bloggers (however big or small you are) to shed some light on their personal opinion too. Let's spread the message that it is not okay to be unethical when blogging. Because when you do so, you put to shame the rest of the community who may not necessarily be the same as you. People are quick to judge, and all of us should be quick to be honest so people can view us and hold us to a good amount of standards. 

Love,
Khione 


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