It all started with a simple question from Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang late in the afternoon on Friday, Dec. 12. A few days earlier, blogger Chris Brogan had written about his decision to accept $500 from Kmart to find out what’s cool to buy at the discount retailer and then write about it. Owyang posted a question to his readers on microblogging site Twitter, asking whether it’s OK for brands to approach bloggers in that manner. With that began one of the most vociferous recent debates in the blogosphere.
