@FashionUnfold | February RECAP – Fashion Bloggers Working With Brands: The End of Editorial Integrity?

Last month, @FashionUnfold returned for the first edition of 2013 and boy was it a hot one, top trending topic kind of hot, another episode of Twitter on steroids! Faithful Unfolders and first time participants discussed Fashion Bloggers working with brands.

With such a hot topic and to kick off 2013 on a strong note, we decided to have six panelists instead of our regular four and it was worth it. The panelists shared their two cents in the official February post, to launch the live conversation on Twitter, with participants joining globally for a heated hour.

So if you have missed the heated and totally uncensored February conversation or if you’d just like to revisit the debate’s high moments, this recap featuring top tweets comes just in time, as we gear up for the March edition (yes, already). Ready? Enjoy!

Unfolders set the tone in the very first minutes of the LIVE discussion. Why wouldn’t bloggers accept payments and compensation? They have worked for it, plus it’s a win/win for all parties involved.

We asked Unfolders to name Bloggers they feel are working with brands successfully, adding their personality into the mix while maintaining integrity. What about you, any bloggers whose content you are truly enjoying?

On the flip side, other participants admitted having stopped reading or following certain blogs because they have turned into online catalogs, losing all integrity and what made them appealing in the process. An unfortunate situation you wouldn’t want to find yourself facing.

Strong opinions kept unfolding at a fast rate, making it pleasantly difficult to keep up, but we managed. And as the discussion evolved, it was interesting to note participants’ genuine aggravation over Bloggers who trade their morals and values for money, freebies and access, jeopardizing the game for others in the process.

Keeping your morals and values in check was highly favored by participants who felt that it is the core of a successful blogging approach, approving of bloggers who collaborate strategically with brands that best suit their identity.

A balancing act worth mastering if you plan on keeping your readers, hooked and happy – because they can smell the money in your post, if that’s all there is to it. So be as genuine as possible and accept collaborations that will enhance your own brand, not just fatten your pocket – but again, to each their own.

Of course this is all honorable but with sponsored content gaining in popularity among fashion bloggers, especially at the Elite Bloggers level – for better or worse, we asked whether integrity was the ultimate answer, when it came to successfully climbing the fashion blogging ladder.

What do you think?

We closed the debate on this note, while participants continued to share heated tweets well over 2pm. It was without a doubt a fun and very informative discussion that shed a light on the evolution of fashion blogging and how we all relate to it, in our very own way.

A BIG THANKS to all of you who joined LIVE to unfold yet another hot topic. Let’s do it again!

February is all done now on to the next one - Register for @FashionUnfold March edition now, the event takes place next Tuesday, March 12 @ 1pm ET. Hot topic to be revealed LIVE so don’t miss out!