The New York Times has been around since 1851 and is regarded as the newspaper of record for the United States. Its reputation is second to none. In the Social Media Age the Gray Lady is still a premier destination for news.
This past week has proven that real world reputation still trumps Facebook Likes, LinkedIn shares, Tweets, etc... If The New York Times reports on something it matters and the world takes notice. For example, on December 25, 2011, the paper reported on a lawsuit that may provide some guidance regarding who owns a Twitter account and what is the value of Twitter follower. Within 24 hours after the article was published the story went viral and news organizations around the world reported on this matter. I appeared on Canada's CTV News Channel last night to discuss the case.
While some may argue that because of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc... the story went viral, I disagree. The story went viral because the New York Times reported on it. The proof may be that it was reported online by a major business publication on November 14, 2011 and again on November 17, 2011. The articles were viewed cumulatively approximately 10,000 times online and shared approximately 1000 times via social media. Despite widespread viewing and social media sharing, this story did not go viral until it was covered by the The New York Times.
Reputation is not something that Klout, PeerIndex, etc....are able to accurately measure. Those who believe these companies can measure reputation remind me of the Emperor in the Hans Christian Anderson tale: The Emperor's New Clothes. The bottom line is that reputation is everything and not easily quantifiable.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Twitter Lawsuit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter Lawsuit. Show all posts
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Twitter Account Ownership and The Value Of A Twitter Follower
The New York Times recently covered a lawsuit regarding the ownership of a Twitter account and the value of a Twitter follower. These issues may not be novel in the social media space; however, they may be novel issues in a court of law.
The lawsuit is between PhoneDog and Noah Kravitz. Some of the facts appear to be in dispute. However, it appears that Noah Kravitz was tweeting on behalf of PhoneDog, amassed a significant number of Twitter followers, and is no longer associated with PhoneDog. Now PhoneDog wants to be compensated for lost Twitter followers.
I don't want to speculate on the actual ownership of the Twitter account because not all of the facts have been publicly aired. However, PhoneDog is claiming that each Twitter follower is worth $2.50 and according to Forbes PhoneDog is also claiming that Kravitz's twitter account is worth $42,500 per month.
PhoneDog's Twitter follower valuation claim and damage assessment is clearly erroneous and not supported by any facts. As George Orwell might say, some Twitter followers are more equal than others. For example, in August one of my posts was retweeted by someone who has a large number of Twitter followers and within an hour I received more than 100 retweets. Receiving retweets may increase interest in my blog; however, I didn't obtain any new clients who stated on their client intake form that I saw a tweet about my blog post, read my blog post because of the tweet, and then hired my law firm based on a tweet and/or my blog post.
Furthermore, Social Media Credential Fraud may distort the valuation of a Twitter follower. There are some self described social media strategists who are intentionally following tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions of Twitter accounts in the hopes of getting a follow back and then misleading their clients into believing they have a large number of followers without the need to follow a large number of people in return.
The bottom line is that until the FTC cracks down on fraud in social media it may not be feasible to accurately value a Twitter follower.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
The lawsuit is between PhoneDog and Noah Kravitz. Some of the facts appear to be in dispute. However, it appears that Noah Kravitz was tweeting on behalf of PhoneDog, amassed a significant number of Twitter followers, and is no longer associated with PhoneDog. Now PhoneDog wants to be compensated for lost Twitter followers.
I don't want to speculate on the actual ownership of the Twitter account because not all of the facts have been publicly aired. However, PhoneDog is claiming that each Twitter follower is worth $2.50 and according to Forbes PhoneDog is also claiming that Kravitz's twitter account is worth $42,500 per month.
PhoneDog's Twitter follower valuation claim and damage assessment is clearly erroneous and not supported by any facts. As George Orwell might say, some Twitter followers are more equal than others. For example, in August one of my posts was retweeted by someone who has a large number of Twitter followers and within an hour I received more than 100 retweets. Receiving retweets may increase interest in my blog; however, I didn't obtain any new clients who stated on their client intake form that I saw a tweet about my blog post, read my blog post because of the tweet, and then hired my law firm based on a tweet and/or my blog post.
Furthermore, Social Media Credential Fraud may distort the valuation of a Twitter follower. There are some self described social media strategists who are intentionally following tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions of Twitter accounts in the hopes of getting a follow back and then misleading their clients into believing they have a large number of followers without the need to follow a large number of people in return.
The bottom line is that until the FTC cracks down on fraud in social media it may not be feasible to accurately value a Twitter follower.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
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