Is that a ghost on your blog?

Debbie Weil, who has established herself as one of the premier sources on CEO blogging, instigates a healthy debate on whether it is appropriate for CEOs to have others ghostwrite their blogs, which may be a more popular practice than you think.

There are two questions which she poses on the International Association of Online Communicators blog.

Question 1: Is it okay to ghostwrite a blog
Commenters take - Most thought it is fine to ghostwrite a blog because it is no different than ghostwriting a speech or a letter from the CEO. However, there was concern that blogs are supposed to represent a more genuine form of communication and that this somehow flies in the face of that principle.

My take - Having a ghostwriter publish a post, respond to a comment or leave a comment on another blog on behalf of a CEO, without the CEO directly approving the content as coming from him or her is unethical. It violates the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's guidelines on honesty of identity. This is a bad idea for several reasons:

1. You will likely be outed, which will be embarrassing and make you look silly
2. One of the fundamental aspects of the online space is transparency of identity. It is a key to trust and credibility.
3. It serves little purpose, as a blog by a middle-manager can carry as much weight as that of a CEO (see: Scoble)

Questions #2: Should the ghostblogger reveal him or herself
Commenters take - Probably not, as this would defeat the whole point of having a ghostblogger.

My take - See answer to question #1. If you are going  to have someone write about the CEO's thoughts, he should write, "So I was talking to CEO X the other day..." or some sort of variation of that.

Conclusion: There are reasons why there are not a ton of CEO bloggers. The things that make the blogosphere thrive - candid conversations, rapid responses, interaction with critical audiences - do not led themselves well to the requirements of the position. (See current issue with McDonald's CSR blog involving executive Bob Langert)

The is little to gain, and a lot to lose by trying to fit a CEO into the mold of a blogger by using a ghostwriter.

Here are a few alternative options:
- Have a blog for official statements by the CEO, or a blog that tracks actions of the CEO (visits to sites, interesting meetings). It could be moderated by a staff member who could provide context. Sure, this would not have the personality usually associated with a blog, but any beat reporter would be obligated to pay attention (and subscribe to the RSS)
- Have an executive team blog. This spreads the responsibilities around, provides a diversity of opinions, and makes it easier for people to fully participate
- Don't have the CEO blog. Mid-level or front-line employees are likely to be viewed with less skepticism anyway and they do not carry with them the potential legal and financial consequences of a CEO blogger. In short, they offer less risk and an easier ROI.

 

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Technorati Tags: CEO, blog, Weil

Comments

[Amy Gahran]

Well, no surprise, but I agree with you completely on this Jeffrey.

I'd also add that it's one thing to ghostwrite an article or speech, or even a book. It's a far more difficult task to maintain that pretense over time, in public conversation.

I think it's virtually inevitable that a ghostblogger or the exec being ghosted wouldn't slip up or get outed at some point -- most likely during a crisis situation or major business move, when an organization is receiving closer public scrutiny.

Not fun -- and not worth the trouble. Transparency isn't just easier, it's safer in the long run. And it builds goodwill, too.

Given all that, jeffrey, why do you think companies would still prefer to publish a ghostwritten blog?

[Jeffrey Treem]

Amy,

Having not actually spoken at someone involved in a ghostwriting situation I cannot know for sure, but I suspect most of it stems from a misunderstanding of social (or participatory) media. I think there are several areas that communicators do not seem to grasp:

- As we have seen with fake commenters being outed, and issues of astroturfing, there is a misperception of anonymity on the Internet. Because the Internet creates a permanent record and trail for everything, it is not incredibly difficult to check up on people.

- There is a rush to get out there and get involved without understanding what it really means to be involved in a genuine conversation. Corporations want the appearance and benefits of a conversation with stakeholders, but are not set up to allow that. The irony is that organizations may find themselves victims of there own success (see McDonald's situation with their CSR blog) where they bring out passionate consumers and are not prepared to deal with them. Companies see others blogging, they see the magazine covers touting the trend, the don't want to appear behind the times - so they jump in, and do it the only way they know how.

- Finally, it is a matter of hubris and a need for control. As you saw in the discussion Debbie started, there is a belief that because organizations have always communicated a certain way, they should be able to just carry that over online.

This whole situation speaks to a larger issue, which is that companies need to use communications tactics - which include the mediums they use and transparency they demonstrate - as part of a larger business strategy. In my opinion, there are not that many situations where it makes sense to have the CEO (especially at a public company) author a personal, external blog. There are a lot of creative, credible ways to use social media and companies need to find the ones that makes sense for them.

I plan to write more about this in the future.

Thanks for your thoughts Amy.

[Debbie Weil]

Jeffrey,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I must admit I was surprised myself at the folks who responded "yes" to my original question, asking if it was OK to ghostblog for a CEO. I remain skeptical. But I do think there is a middle ground. Some CEOs have the blogging spirit but just don't have the writing chops. It might work for them if they have an (acknowledged) blog editor. At any rate, chapter 5 of my new book is titled, "Should the CEO blog?" The answer is... "it depends."

[Debbie Weil]

p.s. hope you'll add my blog to your blog roll! www.BlogWriteForCEOs.com

[Jeffrey Treem]

Debbie,

Of course I will add your blog...after all, I steal ideas from it often enough ;-)