Well did you see the big buzz about the Huffington blog?  Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post blog claimed that George Clooney was a guest blogger and she did this to get more hits on her blog of course. 

Turns out she wrote the entry by bringing together a bunch of George’s quotes.  She added her own zip, got the OK from the handler and then posted. 

Bloggers are loyal to her but thankfully are more loyal to the purity of blogging…they gave it to Arianna.  It took her some days to come up with a response…she said that she was sorry and wouldn’t do it again and she made a mistake.

Now this brings up two subjects I have hit on before.  Blogging is nothing without honest contributions and the power of honesty when faced with a crisis.

I have said it many times, blogging is about honesty.  It is about the self policing that goes on in the blogosphere that keeps those with questionable ethics in place.  And i have also said before that it doesn’t take long for the bloggers to find the truth!  I love that about the blogging world!

The other point I like making, especially for my corporate clients, is that if there is a crisis, admitting to making the mistake and coming up with a plan to prevent the mistake from happening in the future is the best way to handle your public!  It is a simple thing, admit you are wrong and make it right the best you can.

Arianna may loose some bloggers and some numbers from her site; it may take her awhile to get those hits again, but if she stays true to her word, and works more honestly, she will make her come back like any other human who makes a mistake and makes ammends.