Done21

If you don’t feel like reading and you already know what sponsored tweets are all about, this clip from The Truman Show sums up my feelings on the matter:

There’s a new frontier of “advertising” and unfortunately, for those of us that cherish real human connections, it’s happening on Twitter. If you haven’t heard, “sponsored tweets” or sponsored conversations or whatever-the-spon you want to call them, have been infesting Twitter like a virus. Only it’s not a virus… People are actually doing this willingly. If you need an example, check out http://ad.ly/ or http://sponsoredtweets.com/ to see what I’m referring to.

I’ll be up front and admit that I haven’t fully investigated the mechanics of it, but as an end user that has felt its impact directly, I think I’ve seen enough to know that this is totally, diabolically evil. For the uninitiated, sponsored tweets are posts made to a Twitter account that are backed by an affiliate marketing program. Now, I have no problem with people using Twitter to promote a product or service. And secondly, I have no problem with content producers monetizing by using advertisements. My problem is that real world connections (people I’ve spoken with face-to-face) are being lured by the promise of cash, and forcing a message via a communication medium in which it makes no sense. Where’s the relevancy? For example, when I was speaking with my pal in California this evening, he didn’t start telling me about how great Soda Drink XYZ is. That would be completely bizarre! And yet, that’s exactly the type of behavior that I’m observing on Twitter.

I get why this is happening, because believe me, I’m extremely guilty of creating many “AdSense Trash Holes” that were purely created for the purposes of getting ad clicks (I don’t do that anymore). Basically, the advertisers are sold on the targeted, “peer recommendation” factor and “virality” of the platform. And publishers probably figure that for all the great content they put out on Twitter, they deserve to use the platform to make a buck or two. There’s a huge disconnect though, and neither party has a complete picture of the problem. When I read my Twitter feed, even though most tweets are sent out to hundreds or thousands of people, they almost feel like one-on-one conversations because they’re a peek into the person’s thoughts. Tell me honestly, does anyone really think about Brand ABC all day?

The medium is the message!