How 'Seeded Blogging' Can Turn Children Into Brand Ambassadors.

Speak to any Internet evangelist and they’ll quickly try and convince you that blogging (short for web blogging) is the most important revolution in publishing since the arrival of the printing press. Statistics certainly point to the fact that blogging is an online activity experiencing a surge of interest. There are currently 60 million active blogs on the web being updated with over 7000,000 fresh posts every day. It’s estimated that a new blog joins their ranks every single second of the day.

How Advertisers Use Blogs

Part of the popular appeal of blogging is that blogs provide non-professional writers with an instant forum on which to talk about their interests online. Through the comments section on each blog it’s then possible for the blog’s audience to post almost instant feedback. The speed at which ideas can be communicated has obvious appeal to marketers who want to see endorsements of their particular products spread to a worldwide audience over the web.

Where Kids Come In

It’s at this point that communicative children can come in very useful to canny advertisers. In America a popular toy brand has come under fire for effectively bribing kids into writing positive comments about their particular toys. After being recruited through a popular peer-to-peer networking site, children as young as seven are given free toys in return for posting pictures of the toy on the internet and writing about them in their personal blogs. The company in question is essentially employing very eager ‘brand ambassadors’ who will happily work for free.

Unbiased Comments?

As well as helping to advertise products, inexperienced young bloggers can also become the target of cunning advertising on the web. By looking at a blogger’s posts it’s very easy to work out their age, place of birth and interests – information which is very important to marketers. One ways that advertisers use this data to their advantage is by posting comments on the blogs which link to the advertiser’s products. Though these comments are really advertising, they could be construed as genuine recommendations from a child’s peer group.

Tips For Safe Blogging

Luckily it’s easy for parents to help children stay safe in the blogosphere – just bear in mind three simple rules:

Help your child set up their blog. That way you can make sure that their profile doesn’t inadvertently reveal too many personal details which would be useful to advertisers - such as personal email addresses or phone numbers.

Monitor their posts and the comments they generate. By checking up on what their writing you can make sure that they’re not working for the advertisers and that comments are genuine.

Talk about ads with your child. If you do spy an illicit online marketing activity aimed at children, don’t let the opportunity go to waste. Use each example as a way to educate kids about how brands can operate online.

Children and blogs often go well together – after all they teach kids the power of the written word and how they can influence the world around them. Just make sure that you child is using their influence for their own good rather than the advertisers!