I came across an incoming link to Forward today that I thought I’d highlight. It came from a post at Andrea Weckerle’s blog, New Millennium PR. Andrea put together a post that intriguingly eluded giving link love (loosely defined: the sharing of links to up a site’s popularity), and offered a witty write-up on a new blog that is creating a lot of recent buzz in the blogosphere.

Because I know a lot of our readers are new to this medium, I’m afraid I can’t successfully be as sly as Andrea, so I’ll spell it out: it’s a new blog called Strumpette that seems to be flirting its way to fame.

Robert French has a good, comprehensive post about it here. In it, he notes

The worst aspects of PR and Word-of-mouth (WOM) were laid bare in one pitiful post this weekend. Filled with stereotypes and void of character (while masquerading as one), Strumpette busts on the scene and is quickly exposed by - a student.

That “student” would be Stephen Davies from the UK, who smartly made a reference to Spin Bunny, the first PR gossip blog, in a comment on Strumpette’s first post. For some really interesting commentary, read all the comments to that post.

This whole episode just makes me roll my eyes and cry out, “UGH!” This is precisely what we’re trying to combat at Forward. People who belittle and diminish the profession are (obviously) my pet peeve.

“Amanda Chapel” is the supposed author of Strumpette, and her bio? Well.

Bottom line professionally speaking, I am 5’ 4” tall, athletic, Pantene shoulder-length black hair, perfect perky boobs. I present well and am most accomodating. I’ve slept with clients. I sleep with my boss. I am the consummate PR strumpette.

I’m sorry. What profession?

For our younger readers, I encourage you to follow the links in this article and read all the perspectives on it. (Especially read Robert’s post and the ensuing comments to make sure you catch what’s really important here.) What you should glean from this latest drama is this: take your career seriously. This Strumpette mess is not what the industry is about. I highlighted this particular case study because it’s an interesting example of the dynamics of the blogosphere, and a good example of “how NOT to be.” Paraphrasing Phil Gomes, here’s what you need to focus on: PR is not just about “party planning” or at all about “cleavage-for-coverage,” but rather a “real communications discipline.” Let’s take it seriously and treat it that way.

(For those interested, I used Robert’s “nofollow” trick for the links to Strumpette, so no link love from me!)

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I was having lunch on Sunday with a classmate (he’s a few years younger than me and hasn’t really been exposed to blogs yet) and he was asking a lot of really good questions in an effort to understand this new medium and figure out a way he can embrace it. (We all know, it’s intimidating at first!) He asked one question that really stands out in my mind that I wanted to address here: “Isn’t it possible to blog/write under a pen name?”

My eyes got big and I immediately started shaking my head. Sure, it’s possible. Do you want to do that? In my opinion, NO. I understand the thinking behind it. If you’re new to the blogosphere, and you’re sharp enough to realize that yeah — you’re putting your thoughts and your writings out there to the WHOLE world, it might make sense to want to venture out under a pseudonym, just to test the waters. You know you’ll make mistakes at first, and you’d rather those mistakes not be tied with your name your whole life.

Still. NO. (More adamant head-shaking.) Buzz word for the day: transparency! I strongly believe that you need to be out there, writing as yourself, making those mistakes as yourself — and don’t worry, it’s understood. You’ll make some mistakes. The more you engage your brain, the fewer you’ll make. The more that’s riding on it, the more you’ll engage your brain. If you’re blogging under a pen name, where’s the motivation to do well and challenge yourself? Because like the mistakes, any successes you have will be tied to that false identity, too. What good does that do?!

Back to transparency. We’re seeing a lot in the PR blogosphere these days regarding this hot topic. If it’s important that companies be open and transparent (a fact that I’m drawing from all the people talking about it, plus my own intuition), isn’t it just as important for individuals who someday hope to work in PR to start embracing those good practices for themselves now? I strongly recommend that you begin upholding this standard by being open, in a professional sense, about yourself.

And according to Jeremy Pepper:  “Yes, you want to blog on a certain topic - and it should be blogging with passion, and wanting to blog - and using your own name is going to keep it honest. Honesty, trans­par­ency, passion - these are what makes blogs in­ter­est­ing and readable, and draw readers. One caveat: if you are beginning a job, find out if the firm­/­com­pany has a blogging policy. It’s just a good way to protect yourself.”

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