New York Times Article on Paid Twitter Ads
In case you missed it, The New York Times covered the issue of paid ads on Twitter. It’s a discussion of the issue with those who make good money and those who are completely against the idea such as Robert Scoble. He wrote another great article about using Twitter right – (notice Scoble has no ads on his blog either – a purist).
So is there a right way to tweet, blog, Facebook or otherwise participate in social networks? I don’t believe there is. It’s relative depending on the purpose of your account. People are free to unfollow, unfriend or otherwise ignore or hate you if you abuse their trust, bore or annoy them. And they can do the same back.
Marketing Pilgrim has a poll of their readers about if a Twitter ad would make you unfollow someone. You can take it and see the ongoing results of the poll.
Like many of the commenters – if the ad applies or is relevant to what you tweet about I don’t have a problem with it. My favorite ad that I sent out was from a newswire and it was informative to my audience.
It’s like any other form of advertising. If you start selling your MLM at a church event people will try to ban you from ever doing it again, hate you, or avoid you. But I’ve seen people give free info at a church event and have their books with them, and if someone asked they’d offer to sell them a copy. Same principles apply online.
I’m always testing these lines so I can see what works and advise clients (but trying never to violate your trust). I know we’re accustomed to getting everything free online but I think there is a legitimate place for monetizing your work. To build a Twitter network is a long-term commitment, just like a blog.
Some people tweet or blog to build a following. Some have a following elsewhere and that influence extends to Twitter. Some tweet or blog be thought leaders. Others, to make money. Some want to promote their book or conference. I think there’s room for all kinds, yes even ads.
What about you, would you unfollow someone if you noticed they accepted a paid tweet?
4 Responses to “New York Times Article on Paid Twitter Ads”
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November 27th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I did miss this. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
-kpaul
November 28th, 2009 at 5:01 am
[...] New York Times Article on Paid Twitter Ads <blockquote>In case you missed it, The New York Times covered the issue of paid ads on Twitter. It’s a discussion of the issue with those who make good money and those who are completely against the idea such as Robert Scoble. He wrote another great article about using Twitter right – (notice Scoble has no ads on his blog either – a purist).</blockquote> (tags: advertising twiiter twitter-advertising) [...]
November 29th, 2009 at 1:33 am
The occasional paid or sponsored ad doesn’t bother me, as long as the rest of their tweets are interesting on some level.
I once posed the question to my readers, and the feedback I got was that it was OK to do something sponsored every once in a while, but that it shouldn’t be even a regular event. I’m comfortable with that response.
February 18th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
[...] He was also mentioned in a New York Times article about being paid to tweet. [...]