Mall company hires its own bloggers

Why let other people control the conversation?

We're all familiar with the growing influence of Internet bloggers on the political scene, but the fashion world has also been a hotbed of online punditry.

One mall owner, Simon Property Group, has hired its own style bloggers to provide shopping tips and alert readers about items available at its malls.

Simon selected 40 style bloggers with the help of its Facebook fans from a pool of more than 700 applicants to be its local “style setters.” These bloggers provide local fashion tips from mall stores at stylesetter.simon.com.

For example, Simon selected Naples fashion blogger Nicole Forbis to provide local opinion for Coconut Point mall in Estero. Forbis provides insight into fashion on her own blog, too, at NicoleForbis.com.