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When A Blogger Meets Public Relations
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:15 AM
from the protons-and-anti-protons dept.
from the protons-and-anti-protons dept.
fermion writes "The New York Times is running a story on the evolving relationship between PR departments and bloggers, specifically between the Wal*Mart PR people and sympathetic bloggers. The interesting thing in this story is not so much the astroturfing, which is old news, but the transformation of blogging from a personal statement to a corporate bullhorn. The bloggers mentioned in the story, who presumably are able to articulate their own opinions, received Wal*Mart email and began to simply copy the PR text into the blogs. What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?"
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Nothing new (Score:5, Informative)
Wait, I don't understand. This is news? I thought it was common knowledge that a large portion of bloggers (the majority?) simply copy text from elsewhere as their "blog". Take Digg [digg.com] as an example. Digg integrates with many blogging services, allowing users to write commentary on the story, and link back to the Digg page from their blog. The feature is quite popular as most of the front page stories have a "blog" attached to them.
Now with such a feature, you would expect each blogger to provide insightful commentary on the issue at hand, right? Wrong. The majority of the blogs do nothing more than replicate the exact text from the Digg story. Not only are these blogs redundant, but they add another level of indirection to anyone who might happen upon them. ("Oh, so I go from blog, to Digg, to Link, right?") Ok, so the better blogs have a direct link AND a Digg link. But this is really nothing more than sydication of rather fluffy content.
Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:
http://nik-hil.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://www.r00tware.com/ [r00tware.com]
http://hackerslife.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://www.petesblog.com/ [petesblog.com]
These are examples of "real" blogs with sydicated Digg content mixed in:
http://jacobsonster.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://howgoodisthis.wordpress.com/ [wordpress.com]
Now these blogs aren't entirely without value. In many cases, it's a way of aligning your tastes with those of a particular blogger. i.e. That blogger only links to articles you want to know about. It's also good for the site that's being Dugg, as they have more links to their site.
But no, there's nothing magically articulate about bloggers. Plenty of them are happy to syndicate.
Re:Nothing new (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Nothing new (Score:3, Insightful)
The only time that I copy/paste stuff into the posts on my site is when I'm directly quoting a source or posting a copy of an e-mail from staff members or inviduals that opted to e-mail me directly instead of posting a comment.
Take for example the comments from the Copper Bleu Training Manager [lazylightning.org] regarding my disappointment in their Guinness Pours or the comments from a comic in t [lazylightning.org]
Sometimes serves a purpose (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Nothing new (Score:3, Insightful)
In the old days ...like six months ago ... there was a percerption that blogs were expressions of the blogger's personal observations. WalMartBlog has revealed what you may have always suspected: it can be hard to tell whoring from true love.
the collage effect (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like a collage. The material within a collage comes from elsewhere and is "simply" pasted in, yet the overall effect is something greater than the mechanically reproduced parts. The problem here seems to be that Walmart are choosing the texts more than
"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:2, Insightful)
KFG
Re:"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:2)
What is the use? (Score:5, Insightful)
What is the use of a newspaper that just reports government press releases almost verbatim?
What is the use of a television channel if it copies its programming from somewhere else?
What is the use of a boy band just like every other boy band?
The mainstream media and blogs are beginning to watch over each other reciprocally. This is a good thing. It means that if either lies or fucks up, the other pounces down its throat.
Three (tentative) cheers for a free press?
Re:What is the use? (Score:3, Interesting)
The difference, in case
Just don't believe everything you read! (Score:4, Insightful)
Only those who are already skeptical will do that... the rest of us are simply too lazy.
Re:Just don't believe everything you read! (Score:3, Interesting)
To me the whole article reads: "Media discovers that blogged stories may not be impartial." Not that mainstream media has ever reprinted a press release as news...
Another question is who reads these pro-Wal-Mart blogs? If it's only people who are already pro-Wal-Mart there is no impact on reprinting a Wal-Mart statement. If I stumble across a random pro-Wal-mart b
Wait a damn minute... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sympathetic to wounded puppies, starving people, oppressed subcultures, the sick, the dying, abused children, and so on.. but multinational corporations are just not something I can rouse the neccessary emotional response to sympathise with.
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:4, Insightful)
I hate Walmart, or, rather, I hate Walmart management. They're terrible community citizens -- in fact, if Walmart was a person, it'd have been in and out of jail for most of its life due to a habitual tendancy for vandalizm and assault.
Also, I agree with you -- corporations are *not* living entities. I sympathize with my television more than I sympathize with any corporation.
That said, I think that most people who feel sympathy with the company are really feeling sympathy with:
The main problem with the humanist sympathizers is that they're entirely ignorant about, or they choose to ignore, how shitty Walmart treats the people who work for it. It is similar to justifying sweat-shops by saying that the people are better off being raped than they are starving. The fact that often gets ignored is that these aren't non-profit organizations. There are plenty of fat (figuratively) fucks at the top who are getting rich while they figure out new ways of screwing their employees out of benefits.
Despite the rant, I do think that there are people who are simply ignorant, and do believe that Walmart is a good thing for the jobs it brings into communities.
--- SER
Parent
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll agree with you in general, though there have been a couple of recent incidences recently where Wal-Mart has wanted to open a store in a severely depressed area that already has super high unemployment and most businesses wouldn't consider going into (because of high crime rates - we got your vicious cycle right here).
Sure the Wal-Mart jobs would be shitty McJobs but personally I'd rather have a shitty McJob than be on welfare.
In any case the times it's happened around here the unions (which pretty mu
Blogs are SEO tools (Score:2, Funny)
Blogs are used to clutter search engines. Where have you been the last few years? Most blogs are keyphrase link-fests. Another innovation from the world of online adult marketing. Porn coders could solve cancer if the money was there.
Been there, Done that (Score:4, Insightful)
Why shouldn't bloggers do this as well?
Just one question: (Score:2, Funny)
Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?
just as applicable to traditional media? When the Katrina tapes came out, it took several stories before anyone picked up on the fact that the contents of the tapes directly contradicted Bush's claims made right after the storm that "nobody could have anticipated the levee failure". What's the point of a news outlet that manages to miss such
Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:4, Insightful)
Illegal? Maybe. Unethical?
Now that you know how they dodge their health costs, you can enjoy an article about the richest Americans. Five of the Richest Americans [forbes.com] are Wal-Mart's owners and relatives of owners.
Maybe we should ask the Waltons how they feel about exploiting US Taxpayers?
Blogs that just repeat Wal-Mart PR, are not blogs, they are PR for Wal-Mart. This is done order to help continue their ways of exploiting their workers and the system.
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:3, Interesting)
From what I've heard the Waltons are very humble, and even though they are each worth 20 billion they mostly live off the types of products sold in their stores. Of course they do so by choice, and the average Walmart employee does not.
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:2, Informative)
And, for those praising Wal-Mart's economic "efficiency", please explain the advantage to the economy of forcing into leases the provision that no competitor can use the building
Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:4, Informative)
Wal-Mart has a lot of employees (1.7 Million). It is a BIG company. Everything else follows from there.
The full-timers do have insurance. But there many are part-timers who do not, just like many other businesses. Seems to me, giving instructions for finding free clinics is more of a public service for those employees who need it than an exploitive scheme. Do other companies tell their non-covered employees about free clinics?
You might as well say Poor people exploit the taxpayer by using government services .
Exploiting the US Taxpayer Did you know that Wal-Mart has 1500 International stores (3600 US)? Does Wal-Mart exploite the taxpayes of these other countries too?
How does Wal-Mart compare to any large employer? How much health care does McDonalds provide for part-time employees? How about Starbucks - they have lots of part-timers.
I don't know what all this hatred of WMT is, of late. What's the difference between a valid business model and an evil scheme? I guess it has to do with how big you are. At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to the fact that WMT has money and other people want to get at it because it is there.
Let's check that last one... Is Wal-Mart making "obscene" amounts of money? WMT [yahoo.com]
Profit margin: 3.6% - Doesn't look obscene to me, Sure it is billions of dollars. MCD makes 12.7% and so does PEP. TGT (Target) makes 4.58% - maybe they exploit their workers even more to squeeze that extra 1% profit out of them.
Parent
Re:Payment for work done is not exploitation., (Score:2, Informative)
Unfortunately, the reality of the exploitation does not match your rhetoric. They were purposely leading them to public assistance, rather than providing them basic benefits.
For the World's biggest retailer, [forbes.com] how can you not think that this is wrong?
Traditional media do the same thing... (Score:3, Interesting)
Traditional media, including newspapers, magazines and especially the local TV news do the same thing every day.
They are called shills. This isn't new. (Score:2, Insightful)
I've read more than a few things and knew I was reading a corporate blow hole, and not a genuine
Sympathetic bloggers? (Score:2)
You Herd It First (Score:2)
Ditto (Score:4, Funny)
I couldn't agree more.
Corporate Fad (Score:2, Interesting)
Key blogger's response (Score:5, Informative)
There's a more important issue than that. (Score:3, Funny)
Walmart, Astroturf, and Plan B (Score:2, Informative)
nothing is sacred (Score:2)
The use of a blog is the same as it ever was: if an individual has something valuable to say, we listen; if not, not.
PR departments have invaded every form of communication that has been developed. They will continue to do so. All we can do is be selective about who we listen to.
Or rather... (Score:2, Insightful)
Start the spin cycle. (Score:3, Interesting)
If a blogger was posting emails sent to them by Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, Whole Foods, Ben and Jerry's, or Greenpeace would it get any attention? Would they have any less credibility?
I rarely shop at Walmart not because they are EVIL but because I don't like a lot of what they carry and the lines and parking are just not worth it. Yes there are other stores that provide better service, products, and or selections for not much more money. Those stores seem to be doing fine in my city.
This is a great piece of spin and it looks as if many have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
What's the use of a blog... (Score:2)
And you're asking this on slashdot?
All the News That's Fit to Invoice (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, the corporate media's entire business model is taking corporate money and publishing their PR, even if carefully cooked to provide harmless (or occasionally stress-releasing) corporate PR.
Boilerplate (Score:2)
What indeed? But you might ask the same question about many online comments. Half the stuff I see on Slashdot is just somebody parroting their favorite Talk Radio host or columnist.
But this post is really an excuse for a triva lesson: everybody's seen Press Releases, which are phony news articles that people put out in the hopes that lazy newspaper editors will print them unchanged. Back w
This is only new to bloggers. (Score:2)
People are lazy, bloggers are just more so (Score:2)
Doesn't matter (Score:2)
This just in.... (Score:3, Funny)
Film at 11.
So blogs are unreliable (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole point of unregulated speech is that people are free to abuse it. Some will be trolls, some will be corporate shills, some will be flat-out wackos, and almost all of them will be biased as hell. For all the crap some Slashdotters like to talk about bloggers being 'journalists', there's no set of standards or ethics that bloggers are required -- or even expected -- to obey.
When people decide to turn off their critical thinking skills and just accept whatever they read on some blog they've never seen before, they're stupid. End of story. Making a big deal out of the fact that bloggers don't self-organize into an ethical and reliable news system is equally stupid. Both these principles fall on the 'obvious' scale somewhere near, "hey look: air."
Comments from the blogger (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A better question would be (Score:2)
Most blogs are written by people who want to feel contact with the world, it's a search for being understood. Whenever you get a response, you feel like someone understands you.
Or maybe it's just a hobby. But who cares, if you're not harming anyone and it makes you feel better...
Well... (Score:3, Funny)
I gather there's a guy by the name of CmdrTaco whose blog has a pretty impressive readership. Always some interesting reader commentary following every article, too... I'd link to it, but I forget the url.