Hugh has been hammering the emerging trend where marketers jump on the blog bandwagon without first buying a ticket to the Cluetrain. Here’s some of what he has had to say:
As if fake blogs weren’t “beyond lame” enough.
Now I think we’ve got… wait for it… fake comments.
What a great scenario: Some twentysomething PR intern being told to write that crap hour after hour, from some gasket-popping “Creative” Director about to lose his job. Hysterical.
As someone interested in bringing authenticity to the marketing sphere, and someone who sees blogs as a perfect tool for such an end, I must agree with Hugh’s assessment. But if we are to explore what’s wrong with fake blogs, we must also determine what exactly makes up a blog.
Urban Dictionary says a blog is, “A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life.” That’s close, but close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.
To my mind, a blog is a frequently updated web site with posts ordered in reverse chronology. I like the simplicity of my definition, but clearly there’s more to it, or bloggers would not be put off by marketers who dare to do it incorrectly.
I believe the more to it part has to do with use of first person narrative. Thus, a blog is a place where readers get to know the blogger, or bloggers, via daily use of this purposefully personal voice. And therein lies the problem with fake blogs–there’s no one home. No body behind the “I”, only a maketing department or an ad agency with the same old, tired, ridiculously fake pitch.
