New Pay-Per-Tweet Scheme a Threat to Twitter?

It may be just another “#followfriday” over at Twitter, but it seems to be me who can’t stop following the micro-blogging service on this particular Friday. This is my third post of the day on developments at Twitter, and it’s not that I planned it that way.

(BTW, the previous two dealt with Twitter’s role as a radical management innovator, and the growing adoption of Twitter by small businesses.)

No, I’m not growing obsessed here. Rather, it may be one measure of Twitter’s increasing significance for the media industry that so many newsworthy events are now engulfing it that a media industry blog like this one could probably profitably transform itself into an all-Twitter-all-the-time service and do quite fine.

Don’t worry. That is not in our playbook.

It’s been almost two months since we looked into the possible impact a then-emergent pay-per-tweet scandal might have on Twitter. Tonight, there is additional news on that front. Over on Mashable, Adam Ostrow is asking, “Will Pay For Tweet Ruin Twitter?”

Izea, reports Ostrow, the company whose name used to be (literally) Pay Per Post, is preparing to move in on Twitter with what AdAge reports will be called “Sponsored Tweets.” To attempt to answer Ostrow’s question, I’d say, “No, this won’t ruin Twitter.”

Why?

Ostrow notes the reason himself. Izea’s efforts at paying Twitterers to hawk products will be transparent, easily discoverable by anyone who sees them: “Sponsored Tweets will carry disclosure in the form of a #spon hashtag. In other words, if someone is being paid to tweet about a product, it will be disclosed, assuming that users follow the rules.”

As with all such issues, disclosure is key. Izea’s program may make a few bucks for some people on Twitter, but they will probably lose followers in the process. Meanwhile, the honest promotion of ideas, products and people will continue unabated.