WebNewser - Social Media for Media Pros


A Twitter Watchdog? Please

twitterlogo.pngNo doubt conservatives will be up in arms over this potential governmental intrusion into a private-sector business. From the Associated Press:

When people sign up for Twitter, the popular social-networking site presents a list of suggested users to follow, driving significant traffic to sports figures, celebrities, politicians and other prominent posters.

In California, the list has attracted the attention of political watchdogs because it apparently favors Democrats over Republicans in next year's race for governor. ...

Such apparent favoritism does not violate any California campaign regulations, but it has caught the attention of the state's watchdog agency. The California Fair Political Practices Commission has formed a committee to examine how campaigns intersect with social media and to determine whether additional regulations are necessary.

Honestly, what regulations would be appropriate here? Twitter is a private business. It's not a public trust. Can't it do what it wants as long as it does so within the law? Also, who really cares about Twitter's suggested user list? Is that really going to sway a voter with a triple-digit IQ? It's just so silly.

Sadly, all this whining appears to be having an effect:

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco last week, Twitter chief executive and co-founder Evan Williams said he wants to get rid of the company-selected favorites.

"The suggested user list has been controversial for a while," Williams said. "It's gone on too long, and I desperately want to kill it or evolve it."

And then it will be on to the next egregious social networking injustice.


New from mediabistro.com

20 Tips in 20 Minutes
mediabistro.com's PR Speaking Series: Online & In Person

The phone rings. It's CNBC. They want your CEO in the studio and on air. In three hours. Oh, and your CEO has never done a broadcast interview. What do you do? Find out at our new monthly breakfast speaking series for PR and marketing professionals, "20 Tips in 20 Minutes." Our next topic is "Media Training: How to Prep Your Company, Client, and Yourself for Interviews," with Garrett Glaser, former CNBC and MSNBC.com reporter and founder of Glaser Media LLC at 9am on Thursday, February 18. Join us for breakfast or watch the live webcast from your desk. Click here to sign up and view the full schedule of topics.

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, A Twitter Watchdog? Please, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on WebNewser >

Social Media for Media Pros

WebNewser in Your Inbox
Our Blog Network

eBookNewser

BayNewser

WebNewser

PRNewser

TVNewser

MobileContentToday

MediaJobsDaily

FishbowlNY

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

AgencySpy

GalleyCat

UnBeige

WebNewser Staff

Editor:

David Cohen

About WebNewser

Follow WebNewser

Email WebNewser

Archives

February 2010

January 2010

December 2009

November 2009

more...

Topics

ABC.com

About

About Us - Modules

About Us - Subheader Module

Awarding Web

Biz Web

Blog-nalism

CBS Interactive

CES 2009

CES 2010

CNBC.com

CNN.com

Connected

E-Publishing

FoxNews.com

Global Web

Google

Hacked

Magazines

MobileWeb

msnbc.com

NAB-RTNDA '09

NBC.com

News Alert

Newspapers

Personalities

Political Web

Radio Waves

Rush Hour

Social Nets

SXSW 2009

The New, New Thing

Twitter

User Generated

Video Sites

Web Ratings

Web Ticker

Web TV

Web's Revolving Door

WebNewser Announcements

Yahoo!

Links

AllThingsD

Beet.TV

Broadcasting & Cable

BuzzMachine

Lost Remote

The Medium

Shelly Palmer

PaidContent

Production Wizard

Romenesko

Pogue's Posts

Quantcast

TechCrunch

Techland

TV.com

TV Decoder

TVNewsday

TVWeek

The Wrap

mb News Feed

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Fashion Public Relations Manager
American Rebel PR
Los Angeles, CA

Senior Acquisitions Editor - Books
The Taunton Press
Newtown, CT

Interactive Advertising Sales Regional Director
TheStreet.com
Chicago, IL


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l PRNewser l AgencySpy
MobileContentToday l WebNewser l BayNewser l eBookNewser l MediaJobsDaily l mbToolbox
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

WebMediaBrands
mediabistro learnnetwork freelanceconnect SemanticWeb
Jobs | Events | News
Copyright 2010 WebMediaBrands Inc. All rights reserved.
Advertise | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy