OK, so it’s getting closer to Halloween – at least in my house – so apologies in advance for the title. Ghostblogging – a blog that is authored on behalf of a company or another person – has become a passionate, heated debate in the PR and social media world. I am quite surprised at the number of PR practitioners who disagree with it on the basis of ethics…Aren’t these the same folks who are ghost bylining or ghost speechwriting for their clients?
No matter the medium or tool – bylines, press releases, tweets – outstanding PR professionals take great care in ensuring that clients’ content, voice and expertise are accurately conveyed. Essentially it’s the expression and spirit of the author being captured, rather than the action of the person tapping away on the keyboard. For some of our clients who are quite brilliant, it’s difficult to find time in their day to sit down and weave thoughts together in a succinct manner – which is a must in blogging. Others, quite frankly are great visionaries but lousy writers. Nine times out of 10, who do you think writes the speech for a keynoter at a conference? (Hint: it isn’t the presenter.)
The bottom line is that a ghost-blog, ghost-tweet, or ghost-Facebook post is absolutely acceptable if the message has ultimately been channeled from the author and the author has approved the content. So, what’s your perspective?