Of course you write about Apple stock and own Apple products — you’re Maria *Langer*! :)

What I was getting at wasn’t so much pimping Apple to raise the stock and then dump it, so much as just influencing the overall tone and tenor of a post. Or even your opinions over time.

In the pursuit of blogging that is free of bias, it was something that I haven’t really seen “disclosed” amongst tech bloggers — even though publicly owned companies are things we blog about all the time.

Thanks for stopping by!
t @ dji

But I’m also honest to myself. Although most of what I write about Apple is positive, I write it because I believe in what I’ve written. I’m not writing it just to create buzz about Apple that might influence its stock price. While it’s true that I’m virtually unknown in the blogging world, I’d do the same even if I were one of the A-list bloggers.

If I didn’t like Apple I wouldn’t write good things about it. I also wouldn’t own Apple stock.

But I do understand your point. How are we to know what some bloggers have at stake? I own 50 shares of Apple. If Apple went under tomorrow, it wouldn’t kill me. But suppose I were an A-lister who owned 50,000 shares of Apple. And I had the power to pump up the share price $2-3/share and sell. That would be tempting. Some A-listers probably do yield to the temptation.

Makes it really easy to disclose – it just looks for certain words in the body of your post – to quote Ron Popeil: “set it and forget it”.

I figure disclosing what stock you have a no big deal. I specifically hold shares in Apple, Whole Foods, and GE. I blog about Apple incessantly on my site, so I figure disclosing is better than dealing with a direct accusation that I’m trying to juice upu the stock (which I’m not).

As if they need any help from one more lowly blogger…

Some A-listers have serious influence, but it’s not all-powerful. Can they really affect the long-term value of a company with one blog post (positively or negatively)?

People need to keep in mind that bloggers are posting their opinions. Nothing more. It’s not Almighty (Note: I’m not a religious guy, just making a point.) And in many cases, a few days after a blog post is written it dies away. Same with blog hubbubs that circulate every so often.

I read all the blogs you mention, I value their opinions. But I don’t rush out to buy stock in a company or change my entire life (or even change much of anything!) because of what any of them write in a blog post…

PS. I own part of Standout Jobs. I talk about them frequently. *smile*

Here is my pitiful portfolio (listed on my about page):

atari (under $100 in total value)
motorola (under $250 in total value)
revlon (under $300 in total value)
sirius (under $500 in total value)

and checking now, each of them are down 60% from when I bought. except mot, down 28%. For some reason I thought women liked Revlon :)

I currently have NO other financial interests and I can tell you this, no amount of money will ever sway my vote on a product or topic. I will always write reality.

I also don’t friend-pimp as some of the other tech bloggers do. I think this hurts the industry as a whole, it hurts the bloggers credibility, it hurts the friend, etc.

And Tony, thank you for including me in a list of your favorite tech bloggers. You just made my day!

On that note, here’s our comment policy! ;-)

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/comment-policy/