I dragged myself out of bed an hour and half earlier than normal to attend the second Indianapolis Social Media Breakfast on Thursday morning. Even as a morning person, getting out of bed was tough when the weather was a blustery twelve degrees; but I was too intrigued by the topic to miss the breakfast: a debate on ghost blogging.
For those of you who are wondering, ghost blogging isn’t the practice of dead souls opining via WordPress or Blogger, but rather when someone writes, edits or posts blogs on behalf of another person, entity or corporation. As someone who has ghosted for politicians and CEOs in the past, I was interested in hearing what other social media leaders think about the practice.
On the pro-ghost blogging side of the debate was Ryan Puckett, who handles editing content and posting on his father’s real estate blog. Puckett argued that the focus is the message, not the medium. He pointed out that spokesmen have existed for thousands of years – Aaron was Moses’ spokesman, after all.
Taking the opposing side was Raquel Richardson, who argued that the issue of authorship raised ethical quandaries when readers don’t know who is really writing posts.
Ghost blogging is not a cut and dry, black and white issue. Generally, I think that as long as the credited author of the post reviews and approves that post, ghost blogging is acceptable. It’s much like having a speechwriter — ultimately, the speaker is responsible for the content of those statements. Of course, if you’re a writer like me, then maybe you want credit for what you’ve written.
So let’s continue the conversation. What do you think? Should ghost blogging be revealed? Is it ethical?
If you’re interested in watching the whole debate and Q&A session, please check out the recorded UStream. And make sure to check out Indy Social Media Breakfast on Facebook for updates on the next meeting!
