Oh, social media strategists, will you never learn? Even after the great Samsung Debacle of a few months ago, a “strategist” working on behalf of Microsoft (and I don’t believe this is Microsoft’s fault, honestly, because even Microsoft wouldn’t be this stupid) sent our own former EIC and anti-payola-crusader Michael Arrington a nice note:

Basically, they want to pay him to write about Internet Explorer. He’s a good writer, sure, but he’s not the kind of guy you want in your blind mailing list.

Again, if you wonder how a lot of the web works, look no further than this exchange. There are few good guys out there – which is why I pride myself on not doing paid posts anywhere and why I try my damnedest to be nice to companies and indifferent to PR people and why TechCrunch never accepts payment of any kind – but there are a lot of people who are in this blogging thing for the money. That’s fine for them, honestly, and I can’t fault them. Marketing is hard and I don’t envy the small guys trying to get the word out about their product. But Microsoft needs a coordinated blog burst like it needs a hole in the head. Think about it: hundreds of mercenary writers who are looking for a quick buck and who will write stuff like “IE is my favorite briwser!” all over the web. It’s not quality content and it’s not a social buzz. It’s just a mess.

So please stop, social media marketers. Just stop. You screw up far too regularly and the resulting blowback makes your company look like a ship of fools. Incidentally, for a nice run down of potential payola acceptors, please consult this link. To sign up for some payola, pop over here and to understand what went on here, talk to Gregg Hanano at SocialChorus where advocate marketing is made easy!™