Comments on: Reputation, Identity, Trust, Thomas Power and Cloning ..

By: David Petherick

David Petherick — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:06:01 +0000

I am the ghost blogger in question (what the BBC more correctly specified as “The igital Biographer”) and the article was written because Thomas Power contacted the BBC when they wrote an earlier story that discussed him, but did not mention his name. It’s quite the opposite of unflattering, other than the impression being given through carless editing of the article that Thomas’ personal correspondence is handled by others, which, of course, it is not.
He contacted me before this story appeared, to ask if I objected to being revealed as the ghost writer, and whether I wanted to speak to the BBC. I had no objection, but asked if he realised that he would come in for some criticism as a result. As the title of the story says, I became the story.
As it turned out, the BBC also wanted to interview me on Radio Wales, and paid me for the privilege of banging my own drum.
Thomas writes his own blogs, and I help to realise some of them. It’s his reputation, his identity – and he trusts me to be able to write around the ideas he gives me. He is still the one to edit, amend, and place online.
As I said on BBC Radio. “I let people have more time to enjoy the conversations that their blogs begin.” It’s not too crucial who does the typing – it’s who has the ideas that’s important. I simply help Thomas (and others) to be themselves more effectively and efficiently online.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:24:01 +0000

Surely by now you would have realised that Ecademy is soap. That all the hogwash that he has been feeding you all these years is advertising.
I should have realised too that this is the PHD blog.
Thomas Power is so shallow.

By: Emalyse

Emalyse — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:07:11 +0000

Mr Power seems to see himself much like Andy Warhol did as a brand in which work is delegated so that ‘Thomas Power’ in his eyes is a brand identity. It would be better if he just dictated his views for all his social networking outlets and employed others to do the spade work of writing it up (much like an inker and colourist enhance an animators original sketches). Writing about this process in such a clinical way is what seems to have rubbed some bloggers up the wrong way as it sounds soulless and mechanistic.