My sense of ethics is as hot as my coffee this morning.
One one side, I’m appreciative of blog posts like 20 Incredible Pictures From The Chile Earthquake (from Forrest Kobayashi) and Chile Earthquake Pictures: Twitter Photos Tell the Story (from Mashable) for covering the earthquake in Chile and the pending tsunami warnings in almost 50 countries. In our house, the only television access we have is driven a digital receiver box that allows us to pick up about 4 channels. If it weren’t for the two blogs above and trending topics on Twitter, I wouldn’t have even known anything was happening Chile at all. It’s a terrible tragedy.
Artie Isaac taught me the dangers of consuming too much TV a long time ago, and so we’ve opted out of cable and hours of mindless starring. The downside is that we don’t have CNN or MSNBC or ESPN. Bummer.
On the other side, I’m troubled. I’m troubled by the apparent intentions of these blogs. I ask myself this: For bloggers that normally cover topics surrounding technology and the web and social media, why the sudden shift in content? Why is it suddenly so important to cover a tremendous natural disaster thousands of miles away?
The answer is simple. Tragedy, death and destruction mean one thing on the Interwebz: increased search engine queries on related keywords. For a smart blogger, that means an opportunity to capture more search traffic.
For instance, look at the post titles versus the actual title tags that sit behind the page where the search engine crawlers do their work:
- Mashable Title Tag: http://mashable.com/2010/02/27/chile-earthquake-twitpics/
- Kobayashi Title Tag: http://www.forrestkobayashi.com/496/20-incredible-chile-earthquake-pictures
These titles have been strategically (and intentionally) optimized, especially Mashable’s title. Think about it. What phrase would you Google if you wanted to see what happened in Chile?
Now, look at the trending topics:
Everyone is talking about Chile. And when everyone is talking, everyone is also searching Google.
Real Intention
I have no problem with writing posts to reap the benefits of current issues on the web. I do it all the time. But where does the ethical line become blurred? I do think the approach of the two posts above is interesting. Each uses a variety of Twitpics to show the damage from the earthquake. That’s an innovative combination of technologies and one could make a case for topical relevance.
But, come on. Really? Let’s call a spade a spade. Is the intention of these posts to raise awareness of the tragedy in Chile, or is it to up their blog’s search traffic for the day? For me, this content approach is equivalent to the people you see who hold up traffic on the highway, just so they can stop and stare at the carnage of a bad traffic accident.
Is It Worth It?
Trust me, as a blogger, I love search traffic to my blog. I love watching my Google Analytics spike when I hit a post that resonates with you. For me, it’s a sort of a game. And I like winning.
But considering the posts mentioned above, is the increase in traffic even worth it? If your normal topic focus is related to technology, marketing and matters surrounding the Interwebz, how is traffic related to a catastrophic event in another country going to help you in the long-term? Will any of those readers become subscribers? Will they ever leave a comment on another post? Will you have the chance to develop a valuable relationship? Maybe, but probably not…
What’s your take?
