Also, I know Todd Defren’s social media release is an open source document and template, so I would never accuse Edelman of misappropriation. And the idea of a social media release is a great idea, so kudos for a large agency such as Edelman for taking on such a project and bringing it to the forefront. That said, I still believe Edelman’s version and the accompanying tool are not very innovative; they seem a bit empty to me. I would have loved to see it fleshed out, to see Edelman really put its creative stamp on it.

The good thing is that comments and critique are streaming in and it’s all very adaptable and editable technology. The opportunity to tweak can, and should, be used to its fullest extent.

I thought Stephen Newton’s critique was well worth the read. He addresses why the fill-in-the-blank ease is perhaps not such a great idea in a much more articulate critique:

Read it here.

Lastly, however, Edelman is taking an important step by endorsing the social media release. I think they deserve credit for that. Comparing it yet again to politics, the United States constitution was written in 1787 and was endorsed by big men like Washington, Hamilton and Franklin. But we have to keep in mind that by 1789 the first ten amendments were already drafted.

For now, though…

Both Todd Defren and the Social Media Club offered an open template and set of requirements, respectively, for a social media news release. The fact that we built a hosted “engine” of sorts to produce documents that conform to those suggestions/requirements? Well… It’s interesting how people got into a froth about it and, in the most extreme cases, accused Edelman of misappropriation.

I make no bones about it: Any tool in less-than-capable hands will end badly, whether it is suffused with social-media fairy dust or otherwise. But, I tend to think that, generally speaking, something that makes a process easier is a good thing.

Thanks for being the first to notice that we’re open about the comments area and giving us some credit for same. So far, the argumentative stuff hasn’t descended TOO deeply into “quarrel,” though with a few exceptions.

To tell you the truth, I’m not terribly surprised by the reaction.

Will be interesting to see where this all leads us.

http://enid.edelman.com/unews/default.aspx?hid=170

That’s pretty bad.