Comments on: Is it cheating to hire a ghostwriter?

By: Scott Prock

Scott Prock — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:32:49 +0000

I totally agree, but why isn’t the same standard applicable to social media?

I understand there are situations where ghost-writing in social media is misused, but it’s also misused in traditional print as well.

As a case example, I saw an advertisement in the want ads asking for assistance with Twitter and other social media sites. The ad was posted by a successful doctor who wanted to utilize SM. His time is obviously very expensive and he doesn’t want to spend the time getting up to speed with the aspects of SM. Therefore he would like to hire someone to do this for him. He would be the one to supply the information and knowledge in his field, but the ghost-writer who would be established and knowledgeable with SM will do a much better job at disseminating his information.

Does that mean the Doctor is cheating, or being fraudulent … I seem to think he’s making smart use of his time.

I still feel there are legitimate reasons for using ghost-writers in SM. I agree a lot of SM is a personal window into the writer, but there are just as many people using it correctly on the commercial side of SM and it doesn’t all have to be personal.

One of the ways I can see someone using a ghost-writer with their SM is to leave the technical aspects of SM and anything that is impersonal to the ghost-writer, whereas anything personal can still be done by the owner.

In the case of a celebrity, or personal branding, I agree, the use of a ghost-writer would not be wise and would be disingenuous.

Thank you … Scott
@ScottProck & @eTweeple

By: Karen Warner

Karen Warner — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:35:01 +0000

Great explanation, thank you for filling in some blanks on how the ghostwriting process works. As someone who has an editor review and edit anything I write for publication, I believe in collaboration to get the best end-result.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:33:31 +0000

Great article!

I agree with you about ghost-writing; unfortunate name, but the service is necessary and proper. I would hate to deny people with interesting stories or important information the opportunity to put their best foot forward and benefit from good writing and style. The quality of writing is so important to readability and comprehension!

By: Jen Harris

Jen Harris — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:11:25 +0000

Peggy!
Great explanation about what the industry term means, thank you!
When you are in your own circles, you use your own verbiage. But outside of those circles the same verbiage can (and obviously is) misused. I am guilty of this!
I believe it also has to do with the term and what kind of world we live in. Just five years ago, no one would have thought that it was right/wrong to be a ghost writer on a blog, now…people want transparency with that medium and the term “ghost writer” does not exemplify that. But it still does in the physical print world.
Sign of the times? Who is to change their vernacular? The writers or the ones who are reading/judging/buying the content? Hey! Another blog post for ya!
Great job!
-jen
@jenharris09