No Blitching Part II – NO “AQ”!

A while back I wrote a post about using your blog to bitch. Blog + Bitching = Blitching. I want to revisit this topic from a different perspective, armchair quarterbacking (AQ) PR and social media efforts of others. I've seen this for a while on the blogosphere and now see it emerging in traditional media sites (hmmm...). Badmouthing the efforts or lack of effort by others in our field must stop and it must stop now. There is no benefit, it violates the high ethical standards all our respective organizations have set (PRSA, IABC, AC, etc.) and perhaps most important you are dragging down the value of the Internet in your attempt to look smart by making others look dumb.

Let's visit some reasons why this is a bad practice in general:

You don't know the reasons why decisions were made - I will be the first to tell you after attending a client meeting the tactical decisions which emerge might be nothing like what I would have suggested going into the meeting. Research, finance, human resources, audience profile, tech knowledge, culture and more all come into play making even the smallest strategic and tactical decisions. It is impossible for anyone outside the room to know all this. If you weren't at the table you fit in this category.

There is a better format to review criticize - I had an old boss who had a practice of always praising in public and criticizing in private. People loved him and the best managers at this company learned from him. You can too. If you have a suggestion regarding how an organization might have done something different, send them an email. Trust me it will be easier to write and they will most likely appreciate your thoughts even more.

Regarding your "advice", wise men don't need it and fools won't heed it - Nuff said, don't waste your time. Better yet, go do something productive for society.

Who asked you for your opinion? - Unless it was the company I say keep it to yourself. Better yet, write a review about an effort which totally rocks!

Who would you hire? - Think about it, who would you hire? Someone who talks about what others are doing wrong or what others are doing right. Who would you rather hang with at a party, the bore in the middle bitching about everything or the nice guy off to the side who talks about all the great things in the world?

What goes around comes around - Read more here