Now Edelman has admitted that it’s been operating two other fake blogs (or “flogs” – I love it!) on behalf of Wal-Mart. The incident has become a huge embarrassment for a PR firm that has tried to position itself as being on the leading edge of Web 2.0 marketing. You can read the details here.

There’s no question these bogus blogs were a dumb idea, particularly for a firm as progressive as Edelman. There is a silver lining to this whole affair, though: the incident has exposed how seriously bloggers take the transparency issue. Consider that it was only about a year ago that Forbes published Attack of the Blogs, a vicious account of the blogosphere that started “Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective.” That was a popular view of bloggers a year ago, so think of how far the medium has come when a deception like Edelman’s draws this much condemnation from that very same “lynch mob.”

In researching the culture of social media this year, I’ve been struck again and again with how effectively bloggers are organizing themselves around a set of very admirable principles. The premium is on fairness, honesty and openness and the blogosphere is rapidly developing a system of governance that insures that these values are upheld. The speed at which the community has responded to the Edelman gaffe is a tribute to bloggers’ commitment to transparency. This whole thing will blow over quickly and I expect we’ll all be better off for having had a chance to test the blogosphere’s ability to police itself.