Sony, Blogging, and Shame

MarketingVox reports this week that Sony is the latest company to be caught posting a fake blog. In the article, the term "flog" is used for the first time I have seen. We will all soon be reading more about these "flogs" in the “flogosphere” I'm sure. (Read the article here, or see the mirrored version of the fake Sony blog before it was removed here.)

It's good to know that Sony had to block all comments to the blog, to block the torrent of wise-ass comments that would soon follow. They were attempting to create their own buzz in a way a company cannot, and now that they have been caught, they have indeed generated buzz - but going in the wrong direction. It makes me think of Plato's Apology:

Shame is the feeling of exposure, of wanting to hide one's nakedness. It is part of one's ego-ideal. There is a conception of self, an image of what one can be; Shame is experienced in not having achieved a desired and attainable goal, in lacking something, in being inadequate. It is not a function of failing to meet the standards of another, but of having failed or disappointed oneself.

Sony has been caught trying to create their own public perception, and as a result have created the exact opposite perception they wanted. Essentially, the story they have created is that Sony is ashamed of being Sony, and need to create a persona to represent them because one has not emerged naturally to do so. This may not be true, but it is the impression being caught doing this sort of thing creates. It hearkens back to the LonelyGirl15 stories from a few months ago, where a videocast of a teenage girl was really a scripted event, staged to look un-staged. When that was exposed, however, the creators weren't actually selling a product or service or company, and therefore no one looked guilty of trying to generate buzz. That rule changes, however, when you are a company whose motive is moving product. Today’s marketing savvy (read: cynical) public interprets such attempts as desperation, and will treat you unkindly if you are caught. See the 1987 Patrick Dempsey movie, “Can’t Buy Me Love” for a great example of what happens when you try to purchase buzz.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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