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In defence of ghost blogging
November 18th, 2008 • 4 comments Uncategorized
Tags: dave fleet, ethics, ghost blogging
There’s nothing unethical about ghost blogging.
Before I explain, let me emphasize that I’ve never done it, I probably never will and we at com.motion recommend that clients not do it. But not because of ethics.
“Ghost blogging” refers to the practice of a professional writer or PR type writing a blog on behalf of an executive or celebrity. This is very much frowned on by most of the social media fishbowl. This point was underscored in a recent session on ethics at the Talk is Cheap unconference at Centennial College and a followup post by panelist Dave Fleet.
After labeling ghost blogging as unethical, the panelists were put on the hotseat by Centennial College public relations students and other participants. Why is it okay to write speeches for clients but not to write blog posts? Dave and Michael O’Connor Clarke said the difference is that when a CEO reads a speech, he takes ownership of the words, even if he didn’t write them. Which makes it ethical. But this differentiator doesn’t apply to quotes PR people write for executives in press releases, the president’s statement in a monthly newsletter or op-eds (newspaper columns) written on their behalf.
The ethical divide isn’t disclosure since ghost-writing is rarely acknowledged offline except when it comes to books. And its not expectations, since most newspaper readers probably assume that columns attributed to executives were actually written by them.
So either all this stuff – from ghost quotes to ghost messages to ghost op-eds – is ethical or none of it is. And I lean towards the latter former. (Note, I wrote latter here when I meant to write former, and yes, it does change the meaning of my post).
There is one important difference, but it’s not ethical. The difference is consequences. Even if most readers aren’t aware that op-eds aren’t always written by the “writer,” the repercussions of getting found out are almost non-existent. But ghost blogging comes with a motrinmoms-esque public relations risk.
And that’s the real reason why – ethics aside – we don’t recommend it.
With more than 15 years of digital communications experience, I've delivered award-winning and sophisticated marketing solutions for Fortune 500 corporations, major government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and household-name consumer brands. I ensure the successful execution of digital and social media business strategies to build profitability and grow market share on behalf of our clients. I stay abreast of relevant new technologies in the Web 2.0/social media space in order to contribute a point of view while remaining focused on ROI to drive the right message to the right people at the right time.
I’ve been working in or around the social media revolution since 2005 and I am grateful to be exploring this new media landscape with com.motion’s clients. As managing director, my role is to guide our clients through the use of new technologies and to provide innovative ways to engage their stakeholders online. Shiny new Web 2.0 toys are great to play with but our recommendations are always strategic and focused on reaching the right people, with the right message across the right channels.
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