La numai 25 de ani, Ryan Holiday poate fi numit cel mai mare mincinos din PR. Chiar el spune asta in cartea “Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator“. Am inceput sa o citesc dupa ce mai multe publicatii online i-au prezentat “cazul”.

Holiday socheaza inca din prima pagina:

IF YOU WERE BEING KIND, YOU WOULD SAY MY JOB IS IN marketing and public relations, or online strategy and advertising. But that’s a polite veneer to hide the harsh truth. I am, to put it bluntly, a media manipulator—I’m paid to deceive.

My job is to lie to the media so they can lie to you. I cheat, bribe, and connive for bestselling authors and billion-dollar brands and abuse my understanding of the Internet to do it.

I have funneled millions of dollars to blogs through advertising. I’ve given breaking news to blogs instead of Good Morning America and, when that didn’t work, hired their family members. I have flown bloggers across the country, boosted their revenue by buying traffic, written their stories for them, fabricated elaborate ruses to capture their attention, and courted them with expensive meals and scoops.

I’ve probably sent enough gift cards and T-shirts to fashion bloggers to clothe a small country. Why did I do all this? Because it was the only way. I did it to build them up as sources, sources that I could influence and direct for my clients. I used blogs to control the news.

Autorul pune blogosfera intr-o lumina foarte proasta. Si nu doar blogurile, caci spune ca:

By “blog,” I’m referring collectively to all online publishing. That’s everything from Twitter accounts to major newspaper websites to web videos to group blogs with hundreds of writers.

Nu am avansat mult in carte, insa, la prima vedere, sunt usor uimit de felul in care actiona Holiday in media din US. Sunt multe motive pentru care tacticile lui nu ar fi functionat in Romania. Insa imi arata cat de importante sunt blogurile in alte parti.

Puteti comanda cartea de aici, iar versiunea pentru Kindle e disponibila aici.