Fake blog

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A fake blog (sometimes shortened to flog or referred to as a flack blog) is an electronic communication in the blog format that appears to originate from a credible, non-biased and independent source, but which in fact is created by a company or organization for the purpose of marketing a product, service, or political viewpoint. [1] [2] The purpose of a fake blog is to inspire viral marketing or create an internet meme that generates traffic and interest in a product, much the same as astroturfing (a "fake grassroots" campaign). [3]

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A fake blog is akin to industry-supported "astroturf" efforts that pose as legitimate grassroots activity. Fake blogs are corrupted forms of public relations, which as a discipline demands transparency and honesty, according to the Public Relations Society of America's code of ethics and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's code of ethics. Authenticity and transparency are important in social networking and blogging, as these codes of ethics attest. The UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations' social media guidelines cite the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and state that both astroturfing and fake blogs are not permitted. [4]

As social networking tools gain in popularity, corporations and special-interest groups legitimately use their own blogs to promote company agendas without cloaking their identities (one such example is Southwest Airlines Blog, [5] a blog sponsored by Southwest Airlines and written by its employees). Southwest's blog is a place where the public can find information on what is happening within the Southwest community. It is about applications to apply to work there or the drives they host to support others. [6]

One notorious example of identity cloaking, resulting in a fake blog, was exposed when Edelman, an international public relations firm, created a fake blog in 2006 called Walmarting Across America. [7] It was purportedly written by two Wal-Mart "enthusiasts" who decided to journey across the United States in an RV, blogging about the experience as they visited Wal-Marts along the way. While two people actually did travel across the United States in an RV, the publicity stunt was revealed to be paid for by Wal-Mart, a client of Edelman.

The act of writing fake blogs, or the commercial, strategy behind it, has been referred to as "flogging", [8] [3]

Fake parody blogs

One genre of fake blogs is the parody blog; written ostensibly by a celebrity or other noteworthy individual. Unlike other flogs, parody blogs are not necessarily marketing tools. Parody blogs are often written to entertain, confuse, enlighten or to express a point of view through satire and humor. Noteworthy parody blogs include Fake Steve Jobs, Mock Mark Cuban and the network News Groper. There are also a very popular regional flogs like the one of the Indian Prime Minister and the a famous stock market speculator called Jhunjhunwala

Notable flogs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public relations</span> Management of public communication of organizations

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to influence their perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity is not controlled and contributed by external parties. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The exposure is mostly media-based, and this differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations aims to create or obtain coverage for clients for free, also known as earned media, rather than paying for marketing or advertising also known as paid media. But in the early 21st century, advertising is also a part of broader PR activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walmart</span> American multinational retail corporation

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by brothers Sam and James "Bud" Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blog</span> Discussion or informational site published on the internet

A blog is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. In the 2000s, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media manipulation</span> Techniques in which partisans create an image that favours their interests

Media manipulation refers to orchestrated campaigns in which actors exploit the distinctive features of broadcasting mass communications or digital media platforms to mislead, misinform, or create a narrative that advance their interests and agendas.

Astroturfing is the practice of hiding the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by, grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial backers.

Reputation management, originally a public relations term, refers to the influencing, controlling, enhancing, or concealing of an individual's or group's reputation. The growth of the internet and social media led to growth of reputation management companies, with search results as a core part of a client's reputation. Online reputation management, sometimes abbreviated as ORM, focuses on the management of product and service search engine results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Walmart</span> Criticism against large retailer based in the United States

The American multinational retail chain Walmart has been criticized by many groups and individuals, such as labor unions and small-town advocates, for its policies and business practices, and their effects. Criticisms include charges of racial and gender discrimination, foreign product sourcing, anti-competitive practices, treatment of product suppliers, environmental practices, the use of public subsidies, and its surveillance of its employees. The company has denied any wrongdoing and said that low prices are the result of efficiency.

This is a list of blogging terms. Blogging, like any hobby, has developed something of a specialized vocabulary. The following is an attempt to explain a few of the more common phrases and words, including etymologies when not obvious.

Working Families for Walmart is an advocacy group formed by Walmart and the Edelman public relations firm on December 20, 2005. It has been used to praise Walmart in a show of opposition to union-funded groups such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch. The group is financially supported by Walmart and is headquartered in Edelman's Washington, D.C. office. It is not organized as a non-profit, and is not required to disclose its sources of funding.

Walmart Watch, formed in the spring of 2005, was a joint project of the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, a nonprofit organization studying the impact of large corporations on society, and its advocacy arm, Five Stones. The Walmart Watch group was based in Washington with the claimed goal to challenge Walmart to become a better employer, neighbor, and corporate citizen in order to improve the wages, health benefits, and treatment of workers.

Corporate blog is a blog that is published and used by an organization, corporation, etc. to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads. Although there are many different types of corporate blogs, most can be categorized as either external or internal.

An edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking. Edublogs proliferated when blogging architecture became more simplified and teachers perceived the instructional potential of blogs as an online resource. The use of blogs has become popular in education institutions including public schools and colleges. Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs written about educational policy. Educators who blog are sometimes called edubloggers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Rubel</span>

Steve Rubel is a public relations executive and professional blogger. While with the firm CooperKatz & Co., he advised clients on using blogs in their business strategy and started his own blog, Micro Persuasion, in 2004. The focus of his blog is the effect of blogging on the public relations industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edelman (firm)</span> American public relations and marketing consultancy firm

Edelman is an American public relations and marketing consultancy firm. It was founded in 1952 and named after its founder, Daniel Edelman. Since 1996 and as of November 2023, the company has been run by his son Richard Edelman. As of 2022, it is the largest public relations firm in the world by revenue, with around 6,000 employees across 60 global offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Edelman</span> American businessman

Richard Winston Edelman is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer of the public relations company Edelman, a company founded by his father, since 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeSmog</span> Blog focusing on topics related to global warming

DeSmog, founded in January 2006, is a journalistic and activist website that focuses on topics related to climate change. The site was founded, originally in blog format, by James Hoggan, president of a public relations firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Internet branding is a brand management technique that uses the World Wide Web & Social Media Channels as a medium for positioning a brand in the marketplace. Branding is increasingly important with the advancements of the internet. Most businesses are exploring various online channels, which include search engine, social media, online press releases, online marketplace, to establish strong relationships with consumers and to build their brands awareness.

Reblogging is the mechanism in blogging which allows users to repost the content of another user's post with an indication that the source of the post is another user.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug McMillon</span> American businessman

Carl Douglas McMillon is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart Inc. He sits on the retailer's board of directors. Having first joined the company as a summer associate in high school, he became the company's fifth CEO in 2014. He previously led the company's Sam's Club division, from 2005 to 2009, and Walmart International, from 2009 to 2013.

Social media use by businesses includes a range of applications. Although social media accessed via desktop computers offer a variety of opportunities for companies in a wide range of business sectors, mobile social media, which users can access when they are "on the go" via tablet computers or smartphones, benefit companies because of the location- and time-sensitive awareness of their users. Mobile social media tools can be used for marketing research, communication, sales promotions/discounts, informal employee learning/organizational development, relationship development/loyalty programs, and e-commerce.

References

  1. Dariusz Jemielniak; Aleksandra Przegalinska (18 February 2020). Collaborative Society. MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-35645-9.
  2. Yang, Sung-Un; Lim, Joon Soo (29 May 2009). "The Effects of Blog-Mediated Public Relations (BMPR) on Relational Trust". Journal of Public Relations Research. 21 (3): 341–359. doi:10.1080/10627260802640773. ISSN   1062-726X. S2CID   144483794.
  3. 1 2 Maurya, Mohit (June 2011). "Evolution of Blogs as a Credible Marketing Communication Tool". Journal of Case Research. 2 (1): 71–90.
  4. Chartered Institute of Public Relations (2009) CIPR Social Media Guidelines (updated January 2009), p.4 - available at http://www.cipr.co.uk/sites/default/files/Social%20Media%20Guidelines.pdf - accessed 9 August 2010.
  5. "Southwest Airlines Blog". 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  6. "Blog | The Southwest Airlines Community". community.southwest.com. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  7. Gogoi, Pallavi (9 October 2006). "Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 17 November 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  8. Janet Giltrow; Dieter Stein (28 October 2009). Genres in the Internet: Issues in the theory of genre. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 49. ISBN   978-90-272-8938-4.
  9. "Edelman screws up with duplicitous Wal-Mart blog, but it's okay?" from The Business Blog at Intuitive.com