March 27, 2009 by Matt Thomas
Even if not quite an overnight sensation, Twitter has certainly skyrocketed in popularity over the last few months. Inevitably, a site with this many new members suddenly signing on is going to attract the attention of people looking to publicise themselves and/or their companies. This is not something that Twitter is discouraging; in fact, they’re even adjusting the site to accommodate this type of user.
The biggest accommodation to the promotional twitter users is the Suggested Follow list. This is the list of 100 Twitter members that the site thinks are going to be relevant and useful to a significant number of its members. Right now the list includes such luminaries as Former Vice President Al Gore, Actress Felicia Day and the LA Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neil and Britney Spears, though it changes often.
Needless to say, being on this list greatly increases the publicity surrounding you and whatever you’re doing which is why it’s so useful to these users. However, it is a lot of power for one site to wield. The temptation to charge money must be huge. As Twitter develops you may see people demanding full transparency about the process and perhaps even accusing twitter of a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement with at least some of the top 100.
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