Well, apparently you’re not the only one. A new term, ’snarking’, has entered our lexicon dedicated entirely to malicious internet gossip. Not a new phenomenon, but the fact it has its own name is a sign of its growth. David Denby, author of ‘Snark’ thinks its about time the reach snarking has is brought to our attention. The majority of internet users will be aware of chief snarking sites such as PerezHilton, Gawker and TMZ, in fact many of us have probably visited them and have a good laugh at the celebrities being mocked. A BBC news report this morning covered the campaign to halt online snarking and gave the very

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For PR practitioners and marketers the implications are clear; your company, organisation or client could well fall victim. Richard Stokoe, head of news at the Local Government Association (LGA), wrote a column in PR Week (06/03/09) detailing how the LGA had been the subject of ‘frittering’, or in plain English, fraudulent twittering. The fritterer was impersonating the LGA’s chief executive, using his picture, gaining followers (almost 500) and twittering frequently.

Stokoe and his media team discovered the identity impersonation by chance, and subsequently contacted Twitter urging it to remove the false profile. Three weeks later there is still no response from Twitter. Stokoe makes a compelling point in his column, “Web 2.0 has not only brought an entirely new way for organisations to communicate with people – it has also brought an entirely new way for people to damage the reputation of that very same organisation.”

Reputation management is also not a new concept, but with the advent of Web 2.0, a whole new industry dedicated to online reputation management and monitoring has been born. And its big business, with tools like Radian6, Sentiment Metrics and BuzzMonitor in wide use by vast numbers of organisation. Reputation is a vital yet intangible asset to an organisation or individual, it not only dictates how your stakeholders may feel about you or your organisation, but affects significant areas of business strategy. Projecting a strong brand image is essential, it can distinguish you from your competitors, help stakeholders recognise you in a crowded marketplace, cement repeat business, and attract positive media coverage. It is especially important during the current global recession as renowned American academics Fombrun and Van Riel have written, “Reputation is proving to be a resilient asset to some companies in a difficult marketplace.”

It seems an offensive strategy against snarking, frittering, and whatever other new term might appear in the next few weeks is the best way forward. Organisations and businesses may not recognise the business potential of social networking tools or internet engagement, but by staying out of the Web 2.0 sphere, they run the risk of being ignorant about what is being said concerning their business. And loss of reputation could sound the death knell for companies battling in this tough environment.