Mary Rambin: The Chronicle's Newest Blogger Is A Former Gawker "Star"

By Richard Connelly Mon., Aug. 2 2010 at 3:01 PM

Categories: Social Distortion

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Mary Rambin: All about the internet

The Houston Chronicle has a new social-media writer!! And she's a piece of work!!

Mary Rambin is perhaps best known in web circles for her time as a favorite target of Gawker (don't miss her unhinged call to complain about their coverage, in which she calls for a writer to be shot in the scrotum). It all involved her working with Julia Allison, who is one of those famous-for-the-web people who are sometimes briefly obsessed over.

Now she has a page at the Chron called "Houston Social." It's one of their innumerable "City Lights" blogs, seemingly given to just about anyone who asks. The disclaimer, at least as we write this, says "NOTE: The reader is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Chronicle."

So don't read it unless you want to be responsible for it.

Here's Rambin's introduction, slightly edited and with the obnoxiousness boldfaced:

Hi readers! So glad you've stopped in to learn about "Social Media" and what role it plays in Houston. I know, the theme "social media" doesn't sound exciting, but I'll sugar coat this pill so you can enjoy reading and take away some useful information every week.

Now you're asking yourself, who is this woman I am supposed to blindly trust to tell me about anything? Well, I myself publish a popular lifestyle blog, MoreThanMary.com, and have been working on the cutting edge of the industry for the last three years with some pretty notable brands. (Does Kodak ring a bell?)

I myself am proof of the power and value in social media. Three years ago I started blogging after Julia Allison, a friend of mine with a popular blog, signed me up for a tumblr (a blogging platform) and a custom URL as a Christmas gift. She insisted that women would love to read about my personal style because constructing an outfit isn't easy for everyone. As it turns out, she was right. Within a couple of months I had three thousand people visiting my blog daily without much effort on my end....

Now you're thinking about the bottom line; how does she make money doing that? The value in my blog is not due to the number of eyes that visit the page, but instead the engagement and loyalty of the readers who click on what I recommend. Because of my honesty, I have established trust with my audience which means I only work with brands I truly love and enjoy having in my life....

Check in here regularly to learn about blogging, facebook, twitter, and more buzz words you've heard flying around town these days. Don't worry, you'll pick it up in no time!

So far, nothing about scrotum shootings.

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