One of the companies I'm involved with is looking for a particular kind of blogger for a new contract. Jeremy puts it better than I can:Consider too that tourist industry of PEI has hired an internet consultant. 2005 will be the year, all under the guise of "the passion for blogging", that we learn more and more that political blogs are paid for by political parties, that product friendly posts and comments are made by producers and their staff, that gurus are merrily making a good buck at "future forecasting" exactly in the direction of the thing they have already figured out, that pyjamastan is riper for corruption than other media due to its trendiness and de-centralization.Okay, we're in need of a new blogger for a confidential client project. It requires a very specific type of person. For lack of a better word, we need someone who's able to post 3-4 posts a day of the wacky variety. I don't mean daffy duck kind of wacky, but more like Fark or CollegeHumour kind of wacky.It's a 3-month gig to start with. If you're responsible, familiar with the blogosphere and passionate about blogging.
Upon review, I am sure that Darren's client's gig is a good one as long as you can be "wacky", Bittmanesque. It just now needs another name...like "$logging"...perhaps "flogging"¹. ¹[Ed.: Please everyone note that I coined "flogging" because I know someone in France or California posted it last week and is starting to get famous for it.]
Comments
Marian Evans - March 4, 2005 11:05 am
Is this the same point as before, i.e., blogs are unscrupulous too? That is, is this story meant to counterbalance the stories about journalists who have been bought by the various government agencies they are supposed to cover? If so, it does smack a little of the following:
I found out my wife sells her body for money!
So what? So do prostitutes.
What I mean is: if I say my wife is no more 'virtuous' than a prostitute (speaking metaphorically of course), it is no consolation to point out that prostitutes are not very virtuous either.
Actually, I'm not really all that pessimistic about blogging. It's got spunk, but as Ben said, it's only as good as the people who do it. Moreover, no one is paying much for blogging and even though it has the good side of 'amateurishness' attached to it (i.e. people do it because they love it), it also has the bad side of amateurishness, it's very uneven and unreliable. In some cases, money can make that better as long as it doesn't lead (as it has in journalism) to too much conformity. Anyway, it's a frontier and that's always exciting, if it gets co-opted, that'll be too bad, but it doesn't take away from the interesting few moments we will have had when it was still a frontier.
Gooner - March 4, 2005 1:12 pm
I know I'm off topic and I apologize however I feel it is my duty to inform the public that Martha Stewart is out and back on the streets.
Arthur - March 4, 2005 1:15 pm
I feel it is my duty to inform the public that Martha Stewart is out and back on the streets.
And she has a brand new bracelet!
Alan - March 4, 2005 1:41 pm
...and soon she will have a staff of bloggers propping up her image.
Alan - March 4, 2005 2:17 pm
Oh Marian - if that is your name - you may be right but miss the point of the innocents, the amateur bloggers who are making the world well again. They are pure as the driven snow, you see, so none of us should question their motives or inquire as to their backers. It is the most noxious quality about the qhole enterprise and will be undone and uncovered I say, I say, I say!!! The truth will out and you know it must be true as I am a blogger and I said it.
Marian Evans - March 4, 2005 2:54 pm
I think it's okay to be a little hopeful about blogging. You should let the nerds have their fun. I think it's probably harmless. Also, a new medium does offer us at least the possibility of hearing more diverse views. And for that, I am grateful. It may all come to nothing, but naysaying just makes you sound like a curmudgeon. Besides, being a curmudgeon is my job.
Alan - March 4, 2005 3:06 pm
I suppose I do not think it will turn out harmless - that is the thing. Anyway, it is not naysaying it is Old Testament style prophecy making around here. All day. Every day.
Spike - June 17, 2005 10:56 am
The sad news is that as long as there are good ways of reaching people, there will always be underhanded marketers trying to figure out ways to manipulate it.
The happy news is that people (in general) are smart. And they can smell BS a mile away. So as soon as they sniff out these paid blogs, they will blow the whistle.