Richard Edelman Knew Better And So Did His Folks

Talk about getting bit in the butt… the waves of news about Edelman’s fake blogs supporting client Wal-Mart just keep coming (More Fake Wal-Mart Blogs, Edelman Fesses up). The sad thing about this entire story is Richard has been on the cutting edge of bloging and always goes out of his way to be transparent in his own blog.

We have a number of friends at Edelman and respect their work. That said this story clearly shows that many folks at Edelman “don’t get it.” Our guess is that now Richard’s group will get it -- and fast.

New communications technology should not be treated as a way to “slip” some messages into the marketplace. Rather, they should be approached with caution so as communicators you can learn how they work and how the community rules built around them work.

Edelman will weather this story, continue to be a leader in blogging and will help others learn an otherwise painful lesson.

posted by Mike Neumeier, APR @ 2:16 PM
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