Who's your daddy?

From PC World dot com today:

As of December 1, the Federal Trade Commission is going to require bloggers, and prominent tweeters and Facebook types to disclose any paid endorsements to their followers, online friends and readers. These new rules have the potential to change everyone's online habits.

The blog rules are fairly straightforward: if you're being paid to write about a product in a discreet way (which reminds me: my, my, MY, this glass of BOLTHOUSE FARMS SINCE 1915 ANTIOXIDANT RICH GREEN GOODNESS FRUIT SMOOTHIE is just delicious and so good for me!) you'll have to disclose that information to readers. The article says that most bloggers already do this, often right at the beginning of a post they're being paid to write.

The social networking aspect of all this, though, is much more interesting. You know you've made it, Twitter, when the Federal Trade Commission is all up in your grill.

CNET's Caroline McCarthy uses an interesting scenario to illustrate this: a celebrity receives a bunch of free nights from a hotel, and then becomes a fan of that hotel on Facebook. There would have to be disclosure by the celebrity on Facebook that they have received a gift from that hotel.

That sounds reasonable enough, but what about the rest of us? Say for example, you work for Microsoft and become a fan of the company on Facebook or tweet about how much you love Windows 7. Now, what if you have not made it clear on your Facebook and Twitter profiles that you work for Microsoft? Some of your Facebook friends or Twitter followers might see your posts, and--knowing that you're an expert in technology, but not necessarily that you work for Microsoft--take your Windows 7 endorsement at face value. You still might love Windows 7, but you haven't made it clear that you're receiving financial compensation as a Microsoft employee. Under the new FTC guidelines, you may have just crossed the line.

Bottom Line: If you are going to tweet about how awesome your employer is, make sure everybody knows you work there.

Hey, FTC! My clients are awesome and they pay me to say that.