I suspect that it’s a function of some of the BC writers striving to be like Penelope — who has made a name for herself being provocative. But while Penelope can usually pull it off because she’s good at what she does, the BC writers generally don’t have the chops (or the experience) to.

I think Penelope is a beautiful writer, whatever other beefs one may have with her. Her writing at times — particularly when she’s writing about personal things — has taken my breath away. In a good way.

@Vivian: I didn’t say Trunk lacks integrity. I said there’s a lack of integrity between Brazen Careerist and the image Trunk fosters for it. I also haven’t questioned Trunks’s ability to build her brand or her talent as a “diarist.”

I’m talking about the website’s position as a “career” site. That’s what it calls itself.

You also say, “But if you take it as career advice, you’re missing the point.” How is anyone missing the point? It’s called Brazen CAREERIST. And the articles on it provide advice about careers.

@Andrew Shell: You say, “we’re not trying to be a career advice site” and then you refer to, “A career focused social network like Brazen Careerist…” The word career keeps coming up, and you can’t dispense with what it means to be a career advice site if you focus on career issues. Come on – I’ll say it again. There is no integrity when a thing behaves differently from the way it defines itself.

Now I’ll go a step farther because in the end, this is about value and about quality. Robert Pirsig (author of Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) would say (I think) that as a consequence of not having integrity, the site lacks quality. And I’d agree. I think the site trips all over itself.

Back to Vivian: Why would I want to learn about Gen Y from a career site that lacks integrity and quality, as I’ve just defined them? (If you disagree with my definitions, I’d like to know why.) What I see is a lot of confused people trying to figure out their aspirations, jobs, careers and life. Nothing wrong with people dealing with their confusion, but Brazen Careerist seems to promote confusion.

That being said, it sounds like Penelope Trunk is doing a great job of building a brand, if the brand she wants is “frank, emotional, controversial conversation starter.” Most of us don’t want or need that brand for our careers. Perhaps it’s not a lack of integrity, after all, on her part; perhaps it’s just extreme.

When I advise people on using social media, I advise them to identify their audience and their objectives before they start, then to listen, and then to join the conversations to which they have the most to contribute. If Gen Y is your audience, then listening to Brazen Careerist might be important. (It might also be entertaining.) But if you take it as career advice, you’re missing the point.