Today’s guest post is written by Lief Larson.

Why do people (ethical PR and marketing professionals in particular) generally hate “spin” so much?

Because spin is not honest and people don’t want to feel they are being deceived.

PR professionals (the good ones) disdain it because the spin-like practices of the few reflect badly on the entire profession. And marketing practitioners (again, the good ones) avoid it because they understand that building trust is essential to long-term business success.

In the offline world, we can often assess people and decide if we want to trust them by asking them questions. We can learn a bit about their backgrounds, and watch their eyes and body language.

In the online world, this is more difficult.  (more…)