{"id":77,"date":"2005-04-26T14:19:59","date_gmt":"2005-04-26T18:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getgood.com\/roadmaps\/?p=77"},"modified":"2005-04-26T14:19:59","modified_gmt":"2005-04-26T18:19:59","slug":"flogging-a-dead-horse-businessweek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getgood.com\/roadmaps\/2005\/04\/26\/flogging-a-dead-horse-businessweek\/","title":{"rendered":"Flogging a dead horse & BusinessWeek"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, did you hear? BusinessWeek just did a cover story on blogging<\/a> \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n

By and large, it was a good article, and definitely a nice overview for someone who had heard a bit about this "blogging thing." <\/p>\n

At the risk of being accused of "flogging" a dead horse, I really only took exception to one thing — the somewhat misleading definition of fake blogs<\/a>: <\/p>\n

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"FAKE BLOGS, SOMETIMES CALLED FLOGS<\/strong>
Fake blogs created by corporate marketing departments to promote a service, product, or brand. The flog’s writer often uses a fake name. Derided by bloggers, fake blogs are an increasing trend. McDonald’s created a flog to accompany its Super Bowl ad about the mock discovery of a french fry shaped like Lincoln, while Captain Morgan created a fake blog in March for its Rum drinks."<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This definition perpetuates the problem that Neville Hobson identified last week<\/a> — inconsistent definitions of what we are talking about when we say fake blog, character blog, fictional blog.<\/p>\n

It also perpetuates a negative stereotype of corporate marketing departments, almost making it sound as though all<\/u><\/strong> blogs created by marketing would be fake blogs. Not at all true. We have already seen some good examples of corporate blogs – among them GM FastLane<\/a> and Stonyfield Farms<\/a>, both covered in the BusinessWeek article. Not to mention: an individual could just as easily create a fake blog, as a Roadmaps reader pointed out last week<\/a>. <\/p>\n

So how should we define these different types of blogs — fake, character, fictional etc. Neville’s definitions are a good start. Here they are (from the same post linked above): <\/p>\n

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"A character blog<\/strong> means a blog which appears to be written by a fictional person. An example might be a blog that’s authored by a toy – <\/em>Barbie<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/a>, let’s say. Or by a brand – <\/em>Captain Morgan’s Rum<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/a> may be a good example. <\/em><\/p>\n

A fake blog<\/strong> is one that appears to be like a character blog yet the conversation is fake in that comments (for example) are not what they appear to be nor written by genuine people. An example might be the <\/em>McDonald’s Lincoln Fries<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/a> blog."<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And here are my additions: <\/p>\n

The main characteristics of a fake<\/strong> blog<\/strong> are: <\/p>\n