Promoted Tweets

Twitter announced on April 13 that they will now be launching promoted tweets on Twitter.com. Sponsored advertisements will now be allowed to be displayed on the top of the search result pages. This means that Twitter will now be able to deliver contextually relevant ads to users. Some are skeptical about this because they are afraid Twitter is shying away from their original feel but others see this as an opportunity for advertisers to send a message to a broader more targeted audience. Just as Facebook's side ads appear, you will be able to "X" out ads that you do not like or do not appeal to you. Twitter says the same rule of 140 characters will apply to their advertisers because this is an important part of their site. This will cause those advertising to be very specific and to the point.

I see no harm in adding advertisements. Almost every website now has advertisements on the side and most people do not find them distracting. I have found numerous ads on the side of Facebook that have appealed to me because they take context clues out of your profile to target you. I believe it will be more difficult for Twitter to do this because you do not actually have an information section, just a short about me. This will give advertising one more inside perspective to social media. I think sponsored tweets will eventually become very popular and beneficial to everyone interested in advertising.

Twitter Challenge

My Public Relations Campaigns class has been assigned a "Twitter Challenge" for a week. From Wednesday to Wednesday we are to tweet at least 35 times which is a minimum of 5 times every day. This will be difficult in itself because most of us have only had Twitter for a semester and I just cant think of 5 things to say on Twitter in a day but I am trying very hard! In addition to the first challenge we also must follow at least 25 more practitioners of public relations and social media and try to engage in a conversation with them. I have tried to do the 5 tweets a day and right now I believe I am on track but it is so hard to keep up with! The second part of the challenge is even more difficult because not many PR Professionals want to follow me! I will try and add them and then I get no response. I currently have 84 followers and if you ask me, thats not to bad! I do believe Twitter is a great social media tool because there is so much you can do with it. I recently created a list for all of the Phi Mu's at GCSU, only one from my class is following it so far but hey, more might soon! I love to see local businesses and people I know join Twitter because I would much rather follow someone I know than a stranger in cyber space. Well wish us luck on this challenge, hopefully we will all pass with flying colors and don't end up "tweeted out"!

Tweet temptation: Twitter may allow advertising

According to prsa.org, Twitter announced on September 10th, they are contemplating the possibility of advertising. They believe microblogging sites provide an attractive platform for advertisers to promote their brands. I see where Twitter is coming from because using advertising on the side will not only make them a profit, but will attract more people to their site. As a Twitter user, I believe I would find the advertising on the side distracting and annoying because I do not like it when I use Facebook but if in the long run it is more lucrative for Twitter then they should add it. I think it is a smart business move for Twitter to publish that they are thinking about adding advertising before they actually do it to get the public talking about their name. If someone who has never heard of Twitter before sees this release, they may be curious and want to go find out more about it. By waiting to add the advertising, it seems like they are giving the public a chance to voice their opinion in what they want. Many Twitter users are concerned with how advertising will affect their Tweets. They are worried pop up ads will dilute the creditability of their tweet. I think Twitter should construct a poll of some sort and ask the users what they want. The avid users are the ones who will be affected by this change and they need to consult them before making any drastic decisions.