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Twitter To Start Selling Followers
Ellie K writes "While not quite as bad as it sounds, Twitter will soon be identifying followers with certain interests based on the content of their Twitter usage, and then providing this info to advertisers. Twitter is already selling sponsored Tweets for $100K or more. These reader comments captured the disquieting feeling I have: 'Twitter selling followers? Will that be the same as Google selling top position in SERP?' and 'I wonder when Facebook will start to sell friends.' Advertisers will be allowed to purchase placement in lists of 'who to follow' recommendations targeted to users with particular interests on Twitter."
Google has been clear they've never sold search position, PageRank is their secret sauce for making search as good as it is, and they don't corrupt it with ads. They do, however, allow content-targeted ads to appear next to the search results but have always been clear to label what's an ad and what's content on the page.
Twitter's the same way. Every type of paid ad they've allowed gets marked as "promoted" which is their word for "sponsored" or "They paid to be next to the free content we just gave you."
U cnt hv my frst brn f off twtr
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Might want to at least finish reading the summary next time, as you've missed the point entirely.
Advertisers will be allowed to purchase placement in lists of 'who to follow' recommendations targeted to users with particular interests on Twitter.
This is fairly literal version of Twitter "selling followers" (not just information about users) -- it's companies being able to 'buy' followers (with the caveat that they're not 'auto-followed', just show up as a 'recommended to follow' for the user). The emphasis on providing the usage information to advertisers seems like it's just a sloppy summary write-up, as it's only important in the context of 'planning' a purchase for these companies.
Since I am part of the glorious ad-blocker using internet master race I'm fine with my usage patterns being research and used to serve up more relevant ads--as long as I never have to see them. The day it becomes impossible to strip the ads out of some service is the day I stop using it. People like us should be happy about the new business model, it provides free services without ads subsidized by people too incompetent, lazy, or principled to block ads.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
This. The only time I thought "wow, maybe Twitter has a use" was during the American-sponsored protests of the election in Iran. But then I was reminded:
As is so often the case in the media world, Twitter's strengths are also its weaknesses. The vast body of information about current events in Iran that circulates on Twitter is chaotic, subjective and totally unverifiable. It's impossible to authenticate sources. It's also not clear who exactly is using Twitter within Iran, especially in English. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the bulk of tweets are coming from "hyphenated" Iranians not actually in the country who are getting the word out to Western observers, rather than from the protesters themselves, who favor other, less public media. This is, after all, a country where the government once debated the death penalty for dissident bloggers.
It generally wasn't people running around watching things and sending updates on their mobiles. 140 soon-forgotten characters on yet another lazy Internet user medium isn't worth risking your life for when you're protesting such a government. The useful information was exported and placed on traditional and independent news sites/blogs.
That actually makes slashdot one of the good guys. That trend is AWFUL, and there's no good reason for slashdot to follow it.
I wonder when Facebook will start to sell friends.
Isn't that what Facebooks business model is all about?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_40/b4197064860826.htm
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/02/facebook-bigger-google/
0x or or snor perron?!
More likely Slashdot does not undersand Web2.0.
Slashdot is a good old Web 1.0 site where users were not considered a monetiseable item. 10 years ago selling the personal information of your userbase was an anathema. Today selling your user information and extracting maximum value from them is the main and often only business goal of any site. A lot of web 2.0 outfits have no other function and no other business plan but to collect personal preferences (the more intimate the better) and sell them.
I only there was a way to extract information from /. users.
Maybe with a poll...
Tell me arivanov (12034)
Do you typically read about __ books per year?
1. 0 to 10
2. 11 to 20
3. 21 to 30
4. 31 to 40
5. 41 to 50
6. 50+
While you're at it, could you tell me... your level of job satisfaction, how 'smart' your cellphone is, the # of employees in your workplace, what kind of camera you use, how many LED lights you can see before you go to bed, how many icons are on your desktop, how many pieces of snail mail you get per day, the mileage of your car, the size of your display, and about 800 other details of your life?
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[Fuck Beta]
o0t!