As is occassionally the case, I’ve received two inquiries in the last two days into the prospect of renting of advertising space on this blog. After a very healthy discussion on Twitter as to the pro’s and con’s of it all I’ve reaffirmed the conclusion that this blog shall remain ad-free.
My logic on this boils down to a matter of ethics and clarity of purpose.
In terms of ethics I refer to the notion that a certain percentage of my blogging occurs at work, covering what I consider to be work-related subject-matter. In light of this it would not be ethical to acrue advertising revenue for an activity that I’ve already been paid for once before. This is also one (but by no means all) of the motivators behind why I release all content here under a Creative Commons license.
Secondly and perhaps more significant is the clarity of purpose. Despite the fact this is at most an unofficial uni blog I still feel compelled to uphold the idealism behind my uni’s policies on several topics – not the least of which relate to neutrality in endorsement of products or services.
I work in higher education, and in my work place the importance is on learning and not financial gain. The environment, activity or tool that is the most appropriate for the learning experience is what is used – and this is to remain independant of market factors as much as possible. Additionally as I work in a support and consultative capacity, it’s critical that the motives that drive a recommendation remain focussed on the primary purpose – which is to support learning and teaching.
Anything that could potentially disrupt or distract from the primary purpose needs to be avoided, and this includes advertising. As such the choice in reminaing not-for-profit is clear.
