Self-Promotion on Twitter

With the successful launch of promoted tweets, Twitter is now rumored to be exploring the possibility of self-promoted tweets. Basically, the idea is using paid advertisements to acquire more followers. Though the idea hasn't been verified yet and there's no pricing or specific outline of how it would work, the article suggests that it would be "web and 3rd party application friendly" - which seems similar to "liking" something on Facebook through a 3rd party site. Companies like Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Virgin Atlantic, & Bravo TV have had success with their attempts at "promoted tweets", but this new version would put a whole new spin on it.

The new tool seems to have some potential with some major drawbacks. For example, it can be difficult to find exactly what you're looking for on Twitter (though searches were up 33% last month - making it a larger search engine than Yahoo! and Bing). This new option would allow someone to list themselves in a highly accessible place. But, as we talked about in class on Wednesday, people often overlook the advertised spaces and go to a more "organic" search - people with earned followers. Also, this could begin to position Twitter as more of a paid service, or could encourage "buying followers."

Though this is all speculation as of now, Twitter spokesman Sean Garrett hasn't denied or verified the rumor. When asked about it by All Things Digital he simply said, "We will eventually have full suites of both promoted and commercial products. All the components of these two buckets of product have yet to be determined. Some are currently being tested publicly now. Some will be tested soon. Some are just ideas that we are broaching externally for feedback.”