List of Flogs, Astroturfing, Fake Blogs, and Drag Queens
Categories: Industry Index, Social Computing, Social MediaPosted on October 11th, 2007(Left Picture: Like fake social media, although initially attracting, some may be duped, confused, or mad to find out their new friends are gender illusionists, picture taken from a visit to AsiaSF)
It’s important to analyze our mistakes, in hopes we don’t repeat them.
I’ve been asked by more than one individual and clients about some examples of unsuccessful social media or blogging examples, and nothing comes to mind more than the un-authentic blog.
For the average person, being duped into believing someone was betraying your trust by pretending to be something else is a betraying experience.
List of Flogs, Astroturfing, and Fake Blogs
We should note and praise the blogs that started out unauthentic and changed their ways.
Vichy: A French Makeup Flog that went from bad to good Lonely Girl: Although we knew this was entertainment, it wasn’t obvious up front this was all acting on a set Walmart: Walmarting Across America, two paid bloggers traveled the country, although they had ties to the company, commentary from BlogHer and Dave Taylor summarizes nicely. Sony: All I want for Xmas is a PSP, a fake blog was exposed Mackey, CEO of WholeFoods was not transparent in Yahoo Finance Chat rooms (link from Jeff)
On the internet, almost everything is traceable, from IP addresses, to PR firms, to executive admins giving away the secrets. Also check out Rick’s multiple posts on the topic.
Know of other examples? Leave a comment
This is a community collection, feel free to add other examples that you know of. I’m not looking for examples of character blogs, or splogs.
On this list? Want to repent?
Forgiveness is easy, by fixing the error of your ways, coming clean, asking the pardon of the community is easy. Sadly, many brands are inflicted with this stigma for some time. To repair the damage, come forward with an authentic blog, be real, and be human.
Wishing you the best of luck.
(Note: For those wanting to know, I visited AsiaSF with my wife on Halloween, a very entertaining time indeed. This restaurant is known to be frequented by SF’s elite, including George Lucas, who may get some inspiration for his creative movies. Those two gender illusionists (they’re really men) shown above are more transparent than many of the flogs listed above. Unlike flogs, at least I knew what they really were)
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18 Responses to “List of Flogs, Astroturfing, Fake Blogs, and Drag Queens”
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Jeremiah Owyang
Silicon Valley
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HA - “That blog was a DUDE, dude…”
Posted by David Wescott on October 11th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Good one David!
Posted by jeremiah_owyang on October 11th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Well, flogs can vary from character blogs (which can be relatively benign, such as PBS’s blogs for Arthur or Dora the Explorer) or more, well, malignant flogs that are purposely out there to attack people (Strumpette, anyone?).
I fall on the side of character blogs as benign, and possibly good and fine (if they fit into the reasons of why are they being done). Otherwise, attack blogs do suck.
Posted by Jeremy Pepper on October 11th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
How about Mackey and Wal-Mart?
GL
Posted by Geoff Livingston on October 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Geoff
The CEO of Whole Foods? Ahhh good one.
Posted by jeremiah_owyang on October 11th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Yup, too tired to be commenting I suppose… Wonder where Strumpette falls in this mix
Posted by Geoff Livingston on October 11th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
[...] Web Strategist - List of Flogs, Astroturfing, Fake Blogs, and Drag [...]
Posted by Loving Links « The Rosemont Loving on October 12th, 2007 at 2:22 am
[...] leading association is pricey and cannot affect change (to date). The industry is plagued by astroturfing and hucksterism. And really that makes sense. [...]
Posted by Let’s Put Relations Back into PR » The Buzz Bin on October 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 am
[...] Astroturfing: Lying with fake social media efforts rarely makes it in the social media world (see Astroturfing on the Dark Side of the Moon). In the case of Walmart, the company still hasn’t recovered. [...]
Posted by Culture Shock » The Buzz Bin on November 12th, 2007 at 3:12 am
[...] campaigns can be done traditionally, and increasingly online through social media. As CEO of Livingston Communications, I am increasingly recruiting new team [...]
Posted by Astroturfing in the District of Corruption » The Buzz Bin on January 13th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
[...] when they are caught. But believe me, no one should engage in this practice because if caught, it forever taints a your brand reputation. So don’t be quick to muddy the waters. And if you think you can edit Wikipedia addresses [...]
Posted by Now Is Gone » Wikipedia Astroturfing & Reputation Management on January 14th, 2008 at 4:37 am
[...] or how fast information would spread, or were just plain ignorant. This doesn’t include the list of fake blogs, that’s on a different list. 2007 HD DVD Decoded by Digg Digg users publish HD code, [...]
Posted by A Chonology of Brands that Got Punk’d by Social Media on May 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
[...] doesn’t include fake blogs, companies who deliberately tried to cheat the system get their own honorable mention. 2008 Louis [...]
Posted by A Chronology of Brands that Got Punk’d by Social Media « Social Media.Online Games.Virtual Worlds on May 4th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
[...] List of Flogs, Astroturfing, Fake Blogs, and Drag Queens [...]
Posted by Alle Bookmarks (weekly) » Johannes Kleske - tautoko weblog on May 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
[...] fake in any way isn’t good for anyone on the social web. Early on, companies like Walmart and Sony [...]
Posted by Best and Worst Practices Social Media Marketing | Online Marketing Blog on February 12th, 2009 at 11:51 am
[...] Being fake in any way. [...]
Posted by Best & Worst Social Media Practices | Doug Jumper on February 17th, 2009 at 8:19 am
[...] fake in any way isn’t good for anyone on the social web. Early on, companies like Walmart and Sony [...]
Posted by Best and Worst Practices Social Media Marketing | Spicular Technologies on February 25th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
[...] fake in any way isn’t good for anyone on the social web. Early on, companies like Walmart and Sony [...]
Posted by The best and worst practices of Social Media « Pixel Waza on May 19th, 2009 at 4:38 am