Paid to Tweet

One of the new trends in advertising is paying a celebrity or spokesperson to Tweet or blog about a product. Some consumers are not happy about this. They think that this practice has tainted the organic, word-of-mouth social networking sites. 

     

However, what is the difference between paying Taylor Swift to Tweet about her favorite brand of boots, and paying Eva Longoria Parker to represent L'Oreal on commercials and in print ads? Attached is a story from AdAge about this new advertising practice. 

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138980

The consumers who do not support paid Tweets and blogs about products have good reason to be wary. Because money is involved, things get a little sticky. Just because a celebrity endorses a product does not mean they use it or that the product works. Many consumers look to Twitter and blogs for actual product reviews and recommendations. 

However, I understand the desire of the ad agencies to personally connect with consumers. The Internet is a great medium to connect more personally with target audiences.