Just a touch of Bitter and throw in some Irony

There has been a lot of flack given to review bloggers, in which I consider myself one....although to be honest that is only about half of my posts because I can't get way from talking about my real life and parenting my girls.

I definitely have a melting pots as far as blogs are concerned, which is fine by me because you can read what you want and skip the rest. It hurts my feeling not in the slightest. The problem comes into play when the ethics of review bloggers come into question. Am I always giving you my honest opinion or am I trying to sell you a product in which I have been "paid" to do.

I think for me it is a little bit of both. I love trying new things and will often get caught up in the moment of being one of the first to try something and then getting to share it with others. Combined with my enthusiasm for things in general and my cheerful laid-back nature, I hardly come across anything I don't like or can't find the good in. That being said, everything I write is strictly my own opinion and should be taken as such.

There have been products I have not cared for, although I usually have a tactful way of saying I may not have cared for it personally. I would say that if you choose to purchase something based upon my recommendation please use your own judgement.

With that being said I wanted to talk about my own ethics because a friend of mine who is also a review blogger was approached by a commenter to purposely have their number chosen randomly and she would send money for half the value of the prize if she were guaranteed to win the giveaway. I should preface this by saying it wasn't even an expensive prize, it was baby wardrobe.

I find that despicable and downright tacky (there I go getting all southern on you). If the ethics of bloggers come into question let us draw attention to those who enter giveaways under multiple email addresses, so that instead of the 6 entries I usually guarantee each commenter, they end up with 18-24 different ways to get into the giveaway. While I won't even let my family enter my giveaways in an effort to stay above reproach the same cannot be said of those who troll through all the giveaways in blogville under multiple names and email addresses.

I must say I was stunned and disheartened that this has happened to a fellow blogger and hope this is a one time event and not a trend. I also know the name of the commenter in question and it is someone who has entered many of my giveaways. I want to warn anyone who come in under false pretenses that I reserve the right to redraw winners if I feel the ethics of the giveaway has been compromised in any way, and I will not hesitate to let my sponsors know why.