This post is in response to Frank Pasquale’s “Assessing Algorithmic Authority” which was in turn in response to Clay Shirky’s “A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority.” I attempted to leave this in comment form on Frank’s post, but kept getting errors (I hate when that happens), so lucky you — you get [...]

I really didn’t want to get too involved in the whole mommy blogger bullshit scene, but after this AdAge post, I’ve decided that it was time to say a few things. (Note: I’m posting those thoughts here instead of in a comment on the AdAge post, because I refuse to comment on any blog that [...]

Today let’s chat about a tool from David McInnis, brought to my attention a little while ago by Joe Beaulaurier: PeoplePond.
The site is billed as a “personal SEO” tool, to assist in personal branding. But do we really need one?  So far I’m not convinced. But I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a bad example.
Elastic [...]

Asking lots of questions this week, and hearing some interesting thoughts–today let’s talk about spam on Twitter. What constitutes tweet spam in your eyes, and what’s simply good old marketing? This issue has been on my mind for a while, ever since Dave Fleet’s post on Guy Kawasaki and ghost-tweeting (my issue being “should someone [...]

Just a quick thought and a few questions today:
When the whole Domino’s issue went abuzz in SM land, all I could really think was “Don’t they have more important things to worry about? Like learning how to make a pizza that doesn’t taste like cardboard?” (I don’t know. I’m a native New Yorker, so good [...]

(Note: Not all of my concerns here about social media releases are directly related to Todd’s comments. This post is part interview, part rambling, and chock full of my always-unsolicited opinions.)
I don’t think it’s really a secret - I’m not a huge fan of the social media release (SMR). I raised some criticisms / concerns [...]

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of hearing about so-and-so blacklisting PR firms, or PR people blacklisting bloggers. For christ’s sake, who the hell cares?
PRs are still going to pitch their stories. We’re like dogs… if our actions are validated, we’re not going to change them. If we pitch to blogs [...]

With all of the crap going around about Gina Trapani’s latest PR blacklist, it seems fitting that the latest ridiculous quote from the PR blogosphere be along those lines (and I’ll be addressing the issue of blog pitches again a post or two down the road). But for now:
The Offender: Matt Haughey
The Source: Stop Asking, [...]

Today anyone can publish anything, positive or negative, about you or your company quickly and easily. A blogger can rant about you (no surprise here). One of your customers can send out a scathing review to all of their social network “friends.” You could be bashed by a popular twitterer. You could find a nasty [...]

As promised, here is the second half of my recent interview with pro blogger Darren Rowse, on targeting bloggers and pitching bloggers with your stories or those of your clients.

The Case for Targeting Bloggers
No matter where you fall in the bloggers vs journalists debate, Darren thinks that PRs should avoid snubbing bloggers:
“One big benefit of [...]