17 August 2009

Businesses selling Twitter followers face closure

Twitter could soon be taking preventative measures against a company that sells followers for profit.

CNET reports that Australian company uSocial is accusing Twitter of hiring a brand management firm to dissuade it from sending supposed spam messages through Twitter.

The 'spam' in question is uSocial's trading of Twitter followers for money - which Twitter views as unethical - but that uSocial insists does not fall within the definition of spam. In the uSocial press release, CEO Leon Hill defines spam as "using electronic messaging to send unsolicited communication."

Mr. Hill states: "[A]s we don't use Twitter for this, the claims are false."

uSocial is one of numerous companies offering Twitter followers for cash as a quick and easy means of publicising a company through its Twitter feed. uSocial offers deals such as 1,000 followers for $87, and gained notoriety when it claimed that the family of Michael Jackson had purchased over 25,000 new followers through the company.

Twitter is keen to offer ethical business services to companies in the form of sponsored tweets, but it remains to be seen whether it will be successful in shutting down organisations whose business is generated by the sale of followers.

Higher follower counts do not necessarily generate greater interest in a company's Twitter feed, as the dynamic networking site is a place of constant update and change. Companies using Twitter must work hard to earn and maintain a reputation or risk losing followers, avoiding common pitfalls such as excessive tweeting that serve to create a negative image and rapidly turn people away.