So Martha Stewart doesn't like bloggers--does that mean me?
But, it's been a few years since I've spent much time looking at her recipes or projects, since most of them are similar to what I see in the blog world, anyway. Of course I wasn't too impressed with the whole insider trading thing, and I read an interview with her in the magazine on a flight recently where she talked about the 5 cell phones she caries with her at all times--I was a little turned off.
But, I keep an open mind and don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. So I was more puzzled than anything to hear about Martha's anti-blogger comments this week.
Martha bashes bloggers
If you've spent much time on Twitter or some of your favorite blogs this week, you may be aware that on Tuesday Martha spoke out against "bloggers" in a Bloomberg News video. When asked if she feels social media is in "poor taste"...
Here's the quote.
"I do have a minor gripe about that, too, because who are these bloggers? They're not trained editors and writers at Vogue magazine. I mean, there are bloggers writing recipes that aren't tested, that aren't necessarily very good or are copies of everything that really good editors have created and done. Bloggers create kind of a popularity. But they are not the experts and we have to understand that."
Bloggers bite back
Luckily, there've been a bunch of great responses out there--very well-said, blogging community. You really can write!
- This LA Times piece said, what about the bloggers who seriously are experts in cooking, fashion, lifestyle...? Classically trained chefs and designers blog too, you know...
- This piece on BlogHer points out that um, bloggers ARE experts in many things, blogging included. We are all accountable to each other and our readers and we won't succeed if we're not good at what we do and write about. Also, Martha, you really should have said to bloggers, "THANK YOU for appreciating me all these years and sharing my content!"
- This piece on Babble says that, yep, Martha's audience has turned to blogs, the "non-experts" instead of her magazine for our ideas and instructions, but that makes bloggers the experts in what readers want to know, from an everyday person perspective--polls show that women trust bloggers the most for information.
And it gets me thinking--I understand that "bloggers" are not necessarily "experts" in what we write about, Martha. But your comments sound an awful lot like something you would say if you were threatened by the influence of a wave of young, do-it-ourselves, saavy and inspired group of people doing the 2013 version of what you did many years ago. Yes, we have it a lot easier in some ways--we can publish our material in our pajamas no matter how good it is--but it's no cakewalk for us, either. You paved the way, and we dream of someday being as influential as you with our own messages.
I think I know what's really going on here. You've put in the work and you resent that we young, "untrained," middle-class folk can sit at home and create something for ourselves, while you've worked all these years to create your empire and now your magazine sales are slumping (big downturn from 2007 to 2012) because none of us need your magazines for Halloween costume or wedding dress inspiration anymore. I understand that it's frustrating, and I see why you might be jealous. But please get back to working with us, not against us, and don't trash talk us and make yourself sound ignorant--and it wasn't even really on-topic!!
So is Martha's critical mistake that she discounts bloggers as non-experts, or that readers want to hear from non-experts??
I think I know what's really going on here. You've put in the work and you resent that we young, "untrained," middle-class folk can sit at home and create something for ourselves, while you've worked all these years to create your empire and now your magazine sales are slumping (big downturn from 2007 to 2012) because none of us need your magazines for Halloween costume or wedding dress inspiration anymore. I understand that it's frustrating, and I see why you might be jealous. But please get back to working with us, not against us, and don't trash talk us and make yourself sound ignorant--and it wasn't even really on-topic!!
So is Martha's critical mistake that she discounts bloggers as non-experts, or that readers want to hear from non-experts??
Martha likes bloggers?
She has worked with bloggers before. So this whole thing is super confusing, because Martha seems to like bloggers on the outside; she has Martha's Circle of influencers; she spoke at the BlogHer conference in 2012, she hosted Alt Summit 2013, her project American Made supports Esty shop owners... (Design Mom wrote this piece about how she's seen Martha's admiration for bloggers in the past.) So who I want to know from her, too--who are the bloggers she's talking about??!?!?
And she has since apologized on Twitter, which is pretty much as public an apology as you can get these days if you're Martha Stewart and have 2.9 million Twitter followers.
If what she cares about is the amount of expertise bloggers have, who all is she talking about?
Does she mean she a cooking blog who knocks off her pâte sablée recipe and calls it their own? Because I understand being frustrated about that, too--when someone copies my tutorial or doesn't credit me for a photo, I get a little miffed. Yes, blogging is a new kind of media and there are a lot of kinks to work out. But her quote makes it sound like she's saying, any blogger anywhere (in food, fashion, or lifestyle) is not to be trusted and does not have good taste.
But does she dislike me because I didn't go to school for fashion design, and yet I publish photo tutorials? And I try recipes and tweak them and share them, along with my editorial comments? And I wear clothes I've made and post photos of my outfits?
Honestly, that sounds like what a blog is supposed to do. Not a professionally published magazine or book or TV show--bloggers share real-life content that is relatable for readers in a way that wasn't possible 30 years ago. Back then a non-celebrity getting a moment in the spotlight to share a project was even more special, but we still haven't lost our desire for girl-next-door stories and real-time content.
I'll still refer to Martha or Julia or Anthony Bourdain if I want a classic Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, and I'll still buy a book about upholstery or carpentry or something very detailed and hard, but I look to my friends and community of peers in the blog world for pretty much everything else. I love getting inspiration from the push-button publishers of the world, because they're not classically trained experts but they're people like me.
Sorry, Martha. I don't expect to be buying your magazine soon. I respect you for what you've created, but I also respect individuals who put their content out there on their own and who don't have 600 employees carrying out their vision. Those bloggers sound a lot more like me when I try to make a nice dish for a party, and I probably could learn a lot from "experts" and bloggers alike.
So what do you think? Why do you read blogs? Do you think bloggers ARE experts, or is our amateurism what makes us interesting? And, in general, are you pro- or anti-Martha?!
Yes, who are these bloggers?
If what she cares about is the amount of expertise bloggers have, who all is she talking about?
Does she mean she a cooking blog who knocks off her pâte sablée recipe and calls it their own? Because I understand being frustrated about that, too--when someone copies my tutorial or doesn't credit me for a photo, I get a little miffed. Yes, blogging is a new kind of media and there are a lot of kinks to work out. But her quote makes it sound like she's saying, any blogger anywhere (in food, fashion, or lifestyle) is not to be trusted and does not have good taste.
But does she dislike me because I didn't go to school for fashion design, and yet I publish photo tutorials? And I try recipes and tweak them and share them, along with my editorial comments? And I wear clothes I've made and post photos of my outfits?
Honestly, that sounds like what a blog is supposed to do. Not a professionally published magazine or book or TV show--bloggers share real-life content that is relatable for readers in a way that wasn't possible 30 years ago. Back then a non-celebrity getting a moment in the spotlight to share a project was even more special, but we still haven't lost our desire for girl-next-door stories and real-time content.
A blog is not a book
I'll still refer to Martha or Julia or Anthony Bourdain if I want a classic Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, and I'll still buy a book about upholstery or carpentry or something very detailed and hard, but I look to my friends and community of peers in the blog world for pretty much everything else. I love getting inspiration from the push-button publishers of the world, because they're not classically trained experts but they're people like me.
Sorry, Martha. I don't expect to be buying your magazine soon. I respect you for what you've created, but I also respect individuals who put their content out there on their own and who don't have 600 employees carrying out their vision. Those bloggers sound a lot more like me when I try to make a nice dish for a party, and I probably could learn a lot from "experts" and bloggers alike.
So what do you think? Why do you read blogs? Do you think bloggers ARE experts, or is our amateurism what makes us interesting? And, in general, are you pro- or anti-Martha?!