The Ethics of Ghostwriting Online
Ghostwriting is ghostwriting, no matter what the medium
There has been a lot of debate about the topic of ghostwriting as it pertains to various forms of social media. This is an important debate to have since the underlying issue is credibility, which is something we must all strive to maintain. In this context, terms like full-disclosure and transparency come up early and often. And, while both of these terms are extremely valuable to this discussion it would be a mistake to consider them absolute.
Dave Fleet is one of the many industry insiders who has recently taken on the issue of ghostwriting for blogs and social media. His position is that it’s OK to ghostwrite a blog on behalf of a corporate CEO as long as you provide a disclaimer that the blog is actually written by someone else. I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that. If you make that disclaimer, by definition, it ceases to be ghostwriting.
My take is that ghostwriting is ghostwriting and it can be done effectively and ethically no matter what the medium. So long as the attributed author takes full ownership and responsibility for the material, message, language and ideas being presented, there is no foul. The way I see it, it is up to the individual to choose how they wish to represent themselves publicly. If they wish to enlist a professional writer to help them express their ideas as eloquently and coherently as possible, that is their right.
Though still controversial, Ghostwriting for individual executives on company blogs is becoming commonplace. Blogging has come a long way since “the good old days” of a few years ago when blogs served more as online journals written by a singe person expressing their own thoughts. Today, it is hard to distinguish a great blog from an online magazine, which has lead some old timers to declare that blogging has died. This is wrong. Blogs have not died, they have just evolved. Today, they provide an excellent platform for many types of companies to provide information, interact with customers and build its brand. However, expectations regarding the quality of content have risen. Frankly, I prefer reading things that are well-written and have been proofed and edited. And I’m not alone.
As with any type of communication, there are always multiple variables to consider. Blogs and social media have quite a few. We encourage most of our clients interested in blogging to go with a multi-author format. This allows us to write as ourselves as part of the client’s team when it makes sense (which is most of the time). However, there are some posts that are most appropriate coming from a member of the company’s senior management. In those cases we are always willing to edit or ghostwrite these posts.
When ghostwriting a blog post on behalf of a client, we follow some very rigid guidelines. First and foremost, we make sure that the attributed author reads, edits and approves everything before it is published. This is critical. It is equally important to make sure that the attributed author is involved with responses to all comments made to that particular post.
As you delve into various forms of social media, the waters get a little more murky. While I believe that you still could ethically ghostwrite for someone on Twitter or Facebook, I can’t think of many instances where you should. Practically speaking, if an individual client is involved with social media in a professional capacity, it is something they should do themselves.
We do maintain Twitter accounts for a number of clients. In these cases, we normally Tweet on behalf of the company as a whole. We field questions, weigh in on relevant issues, share interesting articles or promote new items on the blog. Followers rarely are concerned with the actual identity of the person of people manning the Twitter account. If asked, we gladly reveal our identity.
Typically, when agencies or companies run in to trouble is when they intentionally misrepresent their identity and motives online. And when they get caught, they deserve every bit of grief they get. It is great that the marketing community, for the most part, is vigilant about maintaining ethical standards as we plunge into this ever-changing world, but going after ghostwriting seems to me to be a mistake.
Dean – thanks for the heads-up about this post. Whether I agree with them or not, I learn something every time I read more about this subject. Perhaps on this topic more than any other, my opinion is still evolving.
I have a question for you, though – you say “if an individual client is involved with social media in a professional capacity, it is something they should do themselves.” How do you reconcile this with ghost-writing a blog? Is that not social media?
Perhaps (and, as I said, my thoughts are still evolving on this) the line falls around whether the thoughts are those of the person attributed. Did the ghost writer come up with them and the attributed “author” just nod their head and say yes, or did they suggest the topics and key points to the writer? What do you think?
For me, though, even that is less than ideal although as a PR practitioner I do see that it might sometimes have to happen that way. My question would then be, why does that person have to be the person attributed? Why not a multi-authored blog where the work can be shared? Why not a different medium that takes less time?
So many questions, so few answers. Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.
Dave,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I think blogs should be looked at in a different light than other forms of social media. Most company blogs these days resemble online magazines more than anything else. Posts on blogs like this don’t seem to me to be that different than an contributed article you might see from an executive in a print publication — and the overwhelming majority of those are pitched, placed and written by PR people.
Something like Facebook or Twitter (assuming the Twitter account is associated with an individual rather than a company) seems more akin to e-mail. People really do assume they are actually communicating directly with the person whose name is on the account — particularly since the notion of paying someone else to bust out a 140 character Tweet seems bizzare. For example, I follow Lance Armstong on Twitter. I’m pretty sure it is really him and that’s cool. If he is paying someone to write a post like “I just got back from a training ride with Bob Roll” it would be a disapointment. However, for the sake of argument, I would even say that as long as the tweet represented Lance’s point of view, it wouldn’t be unethical (it woudl just be lame).
As to your point about the ghostwriter comming up with the idea or the “author” I don’t think it really matters. PR and marketing people have always put words in executive’s mouths. Some executives play an active role and some don’t. It is always nice when they are more involved, but some execs — even very successfull ones — aren’t programmed that way.
I remember one time a client started telling me about this awesome article he had recently read. He described it in great detail and was really distraught about not being able to remember where he had seen it because he really wanted to share it with me. He seemed pretty pleased when I let him know that he was the “author” of this fantastic piece. Sometimes that’s what reminds them of the tremendous value a good marketing person can be.
Great and reasoned point of view on what’s obviously a very touchy subject, Dean (and Dave, for popping in to comment – one of the many reasons he deserves all the kudos he gets).
It’s definitely a fine line. I have to admit, if it’s an opinion piece or something that’s been portrayed as the *personal voice* of someone, I don’t agree with ghostblogging.
Yet I’ve always said (much like you and Dave) that multi-author blogging, or corporation blogging, doesn’t have the same ethos and can be attributed to whoever.
I’m sure that there are great arguments on both sides and it’s great that it’s being discussed in such an open manner. After all, isn’t that what transparency and trust is all about?
Thanks Danny. Yes. It is an important conversation. Even if we don’t all agree on the finer points, I’m pretty happy that so many people want everything to be on the up and up. That helps everyone. I’ll also bet that old school PR people — the ones who used to talk to members of the press (and still sometimes do) — are a little more comfortable with opinion pieces being ghostwritten than people coming more from a pure social media background. We’ve been writing opinion pieces for execs for decades.
Hey Dean,
“I think blogs should be looked at in a different light than other forms of social media. Most company blogs these days resemble online magazines more than anything else. Posts on blogs like this don’t seem to me to be that different than an contributed article you might see from an executive in a print publication — and the overwhelming majority of those are pitched, placed and written by PR people.”
That’s where you lose me, and why corporate blogs have lost so much consumer trust over the years. Authenticity, transparency and honesty are the three legs of a blogger’s stool.
To further define it:
Honesty of Relationship: You say who you’re speaking for
Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity
I say this with the ultimate respect for ghostwriting blogs. And I actually agree with you that (as defined in paragraph 3 above) ghostwriting can be done authentically IF your executive takes full responsibility for your words. That’s fine.
But blogs – especially corporate blogs – should be held to the same standard as any other social medium: people really do assume they are actually communicating directly with the person whose name is on the account.
Period.
This from the woman who was involved at the very beginning of the paying bloggers to blog trend…
Janet, we are in complete agreement. To clarify, I’m saying that, when Joe CEO takes full ownership of the ghostwriter’s words, he takes full ownership. Those words now belong to him so they can (and should) be attributed to him. At that point the ghostwriter can (and should) remain a ghost. In this scenario, there is no authenticity, transparency or honesty violation.
I made the distinction between blogs and other forms of social media because it makes good sense to have blog posts ghostwritten — just like executive viewpoint articles have been ghostwritten in print publications for years. With other forms of social media, ghostwriting just doesn’t make sense. If Joe CEO isn’t able to write his own tweets, the organization should find a different way to be represented on Twitter.
I fully appreciate that this is likely the evolution of corporate blogging, though I’ll always believe that those that don’t employ a ghost blogger will always come across as more authentic.
It troubles me that your client raved about a great article that he had “authored” without realizing his name was on it. I don’t see that as a good thing, or supportive of the strongest part of you argument: “…the attributed author takes full ownership and responsibility for the material, message, language and ideas being presented…”
Obviously people will make their own decisions related to the way they conduct themselves and the potential consequences on their reputations. I’m completely libertarian about that. Ultimately, it’s the reader that decides whether to trust the author and the content. And since you’re policy is to be forthcoming when asked, I’m sure that your clients would do the same if anyone asked them if they wrote a particular post, or had it written on their behalf. Disclosure will always be an important consideration.
David,
I agree with you completely on your first and last points. I also agree that it isn’t ideal that the client didn’t remember the article as his own — and it does put him at a greater risk of being “outed.” That’s something that they need to consider when bringing in a ghostwriter. However, the reality is that there are CEOs/execs that are in to marketing and those that see it as a necessary evil. If you’ve spent much time working with engineering-centric clients, you already know that a lot of them just don’t want to take time away from what they see as their primary funciton to be heavily involved with marketing — yet there are some kinds of communications that really should be attributed to them. Fortunately, I think most CEOs that would have their name attributed to a blog post are likely to take a more active role in the process.
The corporate attitude that “ghostwriting is ghostwriting no matter what the medium” is precisely that attitude that is leading to plummeting levels of trust in business.
It’s simple. The launch of an executive blog says, “Hi, I’m an exec at Acme Inc., and I want to have a conversation with you.” If it’s ghost-written, it becomes one of the most disingenuous statements a company or its representative can make. It’s Dilbert-like (and in fact, there was a Dilbert cartoon in which the pointy-haired boss instructed Tina the tech writer to ghost-write his blog).
If an executive isn’t willing to write his or her own blog, why in the world would he or she want to fake it? Aren’t there other channels where the authenticity associated with blogs is not expected. Why not an executive column, for goodness sake? Why pervert this SOCIAL channel, risk the organization’s reputation if and when the deceit is uncovered, when there are other tools at executives’ disposal?
I know companies will have ghost-written blogs. But that doesn’t make it right.
Shel, you make a good point. My premise is that corporate blogs are moving away from the type of blog you are talking about where it is one-on-one with a specific executive (where I agree ghostblogging is far less appropriate). I would never advise a client to have something like this ghostwritten for the very reasons you mention. However, I still believe it woud be possible to do in an ethical manner, which is really my main point here.
I do see a lot of corporate blogs getting away from this model and moving to a multi-author format where others do most of the heavy lifting with writing posts and the CEO weighs in when it makes sense and/or she wants to share a particular opinion or idea. This seems like a better way to go all around. These corporate blogs come off more as a type of online magazine from a company that goes into topics that are interesting and relivant to their customers or prospects or whomever and provides the company with another way to build its personality and brand. In this sort of scenario, the blog will be judged mainly by the quality of its content.
P.S. I took a quick look at your blog and liked what I saw. I look forward to taking a closer look when I’ve got a bit more time.
[...] are a few thoughts I think are very well presented, whether I agree or not: The Ethics of Ghostwriting Online by Dean Rodgers at Koifish Ghostwriting, Social Media and Ethics by Beth Harte at MarketingProfs [...]
Ghost writing is important to corporate bodies marketing through blogs, so long as the owner takes responsibility. This is where; Ethics in Ghost writing plays a very important role. I commend Koi fish for writing on the subject and highlighting the issues related to Ghost writing.
I consider the article a guide to keep the ghost writers on the right path. Given that more CEOs are engaging ghost writers, transparency and accountability becomes an integral part of writing to avoid damage to reputation in the event that the article violates some rules or is accused of plagiarism. Who takes the responsibility and the ownership of the article? It all boils down to delegation. When a CEO delegates work, responsibility and ownership squarely lies on the CEO. The same applies to ghost writing for a CEO.
[...] Ghostwriting – My Ethics Professor Didn’t Say There’d be Days Like These by Brittani Hensel on Dec 20, 2011 • 10:07 am No Comments For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, ghostwriting is defined as writing for and in the name of another. There are different situations in which ghostwriting could occur, but here only social networks will be discussed, since (primarily) when you see a social media account or page? you assume that the person behind the ditto is the actual person, and that’s where I’ve faced the ethical challenge of writing for an author. For other scenarios, see Dave Fleet’s blog, & KoiFish Communication’s blog. [...]