Recently, I was perusing a blog, the name of which is not germane, and I noticed that the chief editor and head blogger had their own website. So, I curiously clicked the link which didn't work correctly. I edited the address in my browser by backspacing out the last few characters and it worked! There was the website in all of its glory with lots of marketing implementations in use: nice graphics, pleasant fonts, logical organization of tabs and links, etc. But wait, it get's...interesting.
The website is for a public relations / public affairs firm operated by this chief blogger who claims to be a communications expert. Under their Experience & Results tab, you find an interesting and shocking admission:
[FIRM NAME] offers more than a two dozen years of public affairs experience helping public and private sector clients efficiently and effective communicate with target audiences.
We specialize in:
•Social media
•Community outreach
•Government relations
•Strategic Communications
Whether it is…
•employing innovative social media strategies to advance your message and create community
•generating support and gaining allies through effective community outreach
•influencing opinion leaders through via both new and tradional media
•successfully guiding your projecting throuygh the government approval process
•providing seasoned counsel to ensure your message is taken seriously by opinion leaders ad key decision-makers
…[FIRM NAME] has for years successfully represented and advised a broad spectrum of clients.
For a list of present clients, and examples of successes, send us an e-mail.
Aside from the blogger's typographical errors which will undoubtedly be fixed after they read this, they admit to intentionally "employing innovative social media strategies to advance your message and create community". What they don't tell you is that the blogger's blogging site carefully watches each visitor and tracks their movement. They have visitor's IP (internet provider) address, much like a caller ID on their end, and they know or can easily find out who is visiting. This isn't anything new but it is worth mentioning because they, like most blogs, offer an option to post anonymously. When a person comments anonymously, they are only anonymous to the outside world. In this case, the blogger knows who has posted what. Why does that matter? Because you might post that your employer, say the City of Smallville, has a corrupt chief of police who does a number of bad and illegal activities. If the blogger is pals with the chief, he just might publicize who you are, jeopardize your employment status, and essentially out you to your boss that you were ratting out. Nice, isn't it!!Some other strategies they "employ" are by bringing in special case bloggers whose only job is to support a specific cause. This means you might read a post and then comment your disagreement with the initial blog post. Then, several other special case bloggers lob personal attacks through multiple comments against you. These aren't simply fact-based arguments, they are carefully crafted assaults that redirect and twist your words for the soul purpose of shutting down all opposition. Then, if your responses are too negative and fact-based, they simply over-moderate (I think they delete them but can not prove it) them and your comment never gets posted. This is the new social networking game: she who screams the loudest is surely righteous...right?
Not all bloggers work this way, especially the smaller, more local blogs. So far as I can tell, Blogger.com and Blogspot.com (my host site) do not offer any tools for me to determine who is commenting here. This adds a layer of anonymoty which might encourage some open, honest comments without fear of reprisal.
After reading the Blogger's Code of Ethics, which I have adopted, I decided that rather than gossiping about this specific blogger and how unethical they are, I decided to take the high road and not name them. We need to keep in mind that bloggers are not usually major media outlets and therefore, may not have the same protocol for protecting confidential sources of information. Some bloggers are paid consultants for political campaigns which might be ethical if they disclose that they are being paid or are receiving some form of compensation. The blogger in question above, does not reveal to readers who they are working for, which should draw strong suspicion for anything they post that may likely be nothing more than a paid advertising campaign.
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