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In announcing her departure as lead voice on Strumpette, the artist previously known as Amanda Chapel says she’s tired, and has made a difference in the fight against hypocrisy in public relations.
The anonymous author, whose favorite target was Edelman, made a parting statement: “Practically speaking, I fought the good fight. I’ve variously made my points. Together, we’ve exposed a few frauds and killed countless sacred cows.”
I’m ambivalent about Chapel’s departure. As a caricature of a rabble-rousing iconoclast, she stood out from the crowd. Her writing is less verbose than Conrad Black’s, less polite than any other PR blogger, and more interesting than many of them.
‘Her’ anonymity rubbed me the wrong way from the day ‘she’ e-mailed me with her first post. ‘She’ says ‘she stands for honesty, but hides behind the mask of a seductive Italian model. ‘She’ talks about upholding the values that public relations people should represent, but launched bitter, personal attacks against various companies and individuals.
I like everything about what ‘she’ was doing, and nothing about the way ‘she’ approached ‘her’ chosen crusade.
There is a lot of hypocrisy out there. Hopefully, those who continue the fight in ‘her’ absence will borrow more from Bill Maher and Jon Stewart than from Gossip Girl.
Many of Chapel’s think pieces and tirades were well aimed, pointed out serious breeches of ethics, and mocked those who took themselves way too seriously, poking holes in the facades of thought leadership and social media corporate pioneering. For that I was grateful to have ‘her’. Anyone who thinks it doesn’t take a hell of a lot of time, energy, intelligence and stress to make a stir in the blogosphere like Chapel has done doesn’t understand the logistics of blogging and participating in social media.
Chapel worked hard, stayed consistent, and made ‘herself’ heard.
But the singling-out of big whigs and small fry alike for attacks was totally inappropriate, coming from behind the safety of a pseudonym. No good explanation was ever given (that I’m aware of) for the anonymity. In the absence of a good reason, I have to assume it was either cowardice or professional self-preservation, or a combination of the two.
Either way, the anonymity undercut the points that were being made. This isn’t Myanmar, Iran or China. Dissidents don’t disappear in the night.
Not only is it possible to use your real name when acting as an ethics watchdog for an industry, it’s far more effective. Look at Ralph Nader, Phil Edmonston and Jay Rosen.
Otherwise, the question remains: If you’re so confident about your statements, why don’t you stand behind them?
Update: some other posts about Strumpette – Andrew Smith, PRNewser, Listics, Tom Foremski, Geoff Livingston.
Tags: strumpette, anonymity, amanda chapel, public relations, business, gadfly, pseudonym, criticism, attacks, edelman
“The Ac Construct is back and as wild as ever…has been for a while!”
No – it’s just Brian Connolly being bored again and seeing what kind of crap will stick to the wall “this” time. The only legacy he will every be known for is the garbage he can stream into people’s inboxes and voicemail – there is no legitimacy whatsoever in anything he writes or claims.
@BC – feel free to sue me. There is TONS of documented proof, and I can’t wait to see the diatribe you’ll funnel into my email. LOL
The Ac Construct is back and as wild as ever…has been for a while!
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Robert French is cool and he did a great job exposing the sadism and silliness of the Amanda Hoax.
The “Amanda Chapel” Hoax was a hose by ungifted twerps who only know how to sling slurs and insults with foul junior high school logic and language.
Amanda ie 5 unemployed slobs, was mainly concerned with attacking the blogosphere, Cluetrain User Empowerment, and the worldwide democracy revolution.
To hate blogs, bloggers, and participatory media is not any boost to humanity.
Cowardly anonymous trolls are no benefit to anyone, just sleazy and tasteless.
Goodbye Brian Connelly and ilk. Hope you find a real job soon. Try Mary Kay.
Hey, at least you didn’t turn off comments on this post because it went somewhere you didn’t expect, or somewhere you wanted to go. What message do Robert French’s students get by his hysteria, turning off comments on InfOpinions? His post about Strumpette is nasty and personally driven, with an image of a crack whore and fat guy and he doesn’t expect a reaction? Why doesn’t he tell the real story of the origins of her personal attacks on Amanda?
1687 days ago
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Mark: I’m cool with that. According to Wikipedia, cajones is Spanish for “drawer” or “wooden box drums”.
Let it never be said that I am without wooden box drums.
Hi Ike! Can’t sleep. All this pent up Strumpette and nowhere to put it. Eric: Wouldn’t think that being gay is an insult, by any means, would not insinuate same. Seriously. And it’s fine with me if you don’t have testicles.
Personally I think the *most* fitting tribute would be to just stop talking about it.
Don’t we all have more interesting things to do?
Love the comments thread. This could be the most anyone has talked about Strumpette since the blog launched. I think I read it one day and then I replaced it with LOLcats. Let me know if Strumpette is in my base, killin’ my doodz. That, I would be interested in:)
Eric, because this conversation is taking on those qualities. What a fitting tribute to Amanda Chapel, that we have well-considered kudos and gutter-talk on the same page. She shouldn’t be remembered any other way.
Mark, is that some sort of cute homo joke? I’m asking seriously, because I can’t tell if you seriously think that calling me gay would be an insult.
Because we’re in the cafeteria and someone just started a food fight. I’m going outside to play in the schoolyard. Enough. Washington DC? Please. Does Amtrak go there? Okay, Eric, maybe you have testicles. Can Geoff attest to that?
OK, E. You are right. It’s your house. I apologize for my comments to Mark. Just p’s me off to see him talk like this here. But the merits of his comments (or lack there of) speak for themselves. Cheers, and be well.
Why do I feel like I’m back in elementary school?
@Mark We have a saying in DC. New York’s for name-dropping has beens. Especially for PR pros who can’t cut in the greatest bastion of PR in the world… Washington.