Beware the "Clogs" Among Us - Page 2

I wondered how common this is, and then I had my answer: it's not just common, it's even supported by a professional association, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). I spent a good hour shaking my head. Only in America.

WOMMA is a professional association of advertising and public relations agency professionals and major corporate representatives dedicated to turning the blogosphere from a community of individuals sharing their honest and uncensored opinions and viewpoints on everything from politics to fashion to consumer products into a for-profit global infomercial.

They've done it to the press, movies, TV, and even Broadway, so why not the blogs?

The well-crafted WOMMA message: "WOMMA is leading the efforts to improve word of mouth marketing as an effective technique and as a core part of the marketing mix. WOMMA is making word of mouth marketing measurable and trackable to increase its usefulness and adoption by marketers."

WOMMA even posts a code of ethics, written by industry, for industry and policed by industry; and as the Edelman debacle highlights, policed not so well.

Word of mouth information is personal endorsement spread by independent individuals we trust, as opposed to paid spokespersons. Buzz originates with individuals who speak from the heart. And most importantly, the true power and influence of word of mouth and buzz is that they are "earned" not sponsored.

While WOMMA promotes "honesty" throughout its website, one can't escape the fact that commercially sponsored blogs are commercially-funded websites with product marketing goals. They can't, by their very nature, be completely honest. I'm not suggesting that they are all dishonest, but they all most certainly will have a one-sided, sales-oriented point of view that does not come from the human heart, but rather from a collective for-profit interest.

At the end of the day, I want corporations playing in the blogosphere, delivering credible information to independent bloggers who have the freedom to judge and endorse or criticize. When the media shapes editorial to satisfy the needs of advertisers and sponsors, they betray the principles of journalism and their audience. The same basic principle should apply to the blogosphere.

This nation is being crushed by dishonesty, deception, fraud and obfuscation. It's sad to realize that the blogging community is under assault, not by government censorship and regulation, but rather by corporate America.

Bloggers and blog readers are a savvy bunch and easily recognize fraud on the Internet. Professional marketers are brilliant at perpetrating fraud. It should prove to be an interesting competition in the months and years to come.

God save the blogosphere.

Article Author: Richard Rothstein

A native New Yorker with decades of experience in journalism and public. Born the same year as modern Israel and still with as many issues. We're both working on it.

Visit Richard Rothstein's author page — Richard Rothstein's Blog