The Times reports on the progress of paid social media advertising through third parties (influencers, average Joes with a few thousand friends/followers). This conversation is a bit tiresome when you see it the way we do — which is to say that very soon, the fairly virgin medium (Twitter) will have its purity ripped away — something marketers like IZEA, Ad.ly (“in-stream advertising platform that matches top-tier Twitter publishers with top-tier brands”) and Likes.com seem to be willing to sacrifice for short term profits #ruinitfortherestofuswhydontcha.
The argument is based on the advancement of advertising throughout history, with newsprint (radio, television, et al) as the primary examples of what can happen. What were once super-viable outlets for content (first) and advertising (second) are today generally focused on the first. Rather than being content vehicles first, many media today put advertising first simply because they have to. After all, it’s costly to print, broadcast, record, produce. Competition is high.
But Twitter only costs as much as Web access, a device and whatever Twitter.com’s purveyors put in on their end (a responsibility that for now doesn’t affect users). This problem bemoans another: should someone other than Twitter be focused on the sustainability of the company? The answer may be yes. After all, what good is an Izea, an Ad.ly, a Likes.com, without the medium they rely upon?
Short term, these companies may make money. For now they operate in a nebulous world free from regulation (Izea sponsored Tweets require a #sponsor or #ad hashtags). And as regulatory bodies harden their position against sponsored Tweeting/Facebook updates, the model will change. As it should. Consider a sponsored Tweet with a #sponsor hashtag — what happens when someone re-tweets it but removes the hash tag?
These and other issues regarding sponsorship may not seem problematic but history serves as a template: sponsorship dilutes, every time.
More: “FTC May Soon Hold Brands Responsible for False Product Claims Made in Social Media Realm”