Twitter: Friends for Sale

One popular subscriber has put his Twitter account up for sale on eBay, prompting a fiery debate over ethics and commerce online

by Heather Green

When it's all said and done, Andrew Baron might not even sell his Twitter account. But whether he does or not, Baron has stirred up plenty of questions about the meaning of community and the value of an online audience.

On Apr. 12, Baron put his Twitter account up for sale to the highest bidder on eBay (EBAY). Twitter is the service that lets subscribers send quick notes (limited to 140 characters, or about 20 words) to the cell phones and Web sites of people who have decided to follow them. Baron joined Twitter a year ago and, as the co-founder of the pioneering online video series Rocketboom, he quickly had 1,400 people sign up to get his postings, one of the biggest crowds of followers on the service.

Little wonder Baron's move has provoked a wide-ranging debate online. Twitter is about two years old, and no one has ever tried to sell access to their followers before. One debate raged, on the blog of business consultant Chris Brogan, about whether an account could and should be sold. "The ethical implications of selling users by proxy makes me want to vomit," wrote one of the blog's visitors. At the technology news site TechCrunch, blogger Michael Arrington highlighted the privacy and ethical issues and wondered what kind of precedent would be set by an individual selling his list of subscribers. Some bloggers saw Baron's move as a simple publicity stunt aimed at bringing a bigger audience to his video show.

Decision to Sell

It's just the kind of discussion Baron was hoping for. He put his Twitter account up for sale mostly because he was feeling bored with it and ambivalent about the technology. Most "twitterings" are deadly dull. And Baron readily admits he struggled to find worthy items to share with his many followers. "Every time I would go to Twitter, I would think really hard and try to come up with something important to say. I'd also try to talk about things I was doing, like going out to have a drink, or I would try to be poetic," says Baron. "It wasn't working for me."

Baron had read about cartoonist and blogger Hugh MacLeod publicly deleting his Twitter account because it was taking him away from his drawing, and Baron considered simply doing the same thing. But then he thought that may be giving up on Twitter too easily. He wanted to run an auction to get feedback on what people thought about an issue with little real precedent. Was a Twitter account "property" he could sell? Did it belong to him since its value stems from the people who follow him? What are the ethical issues of selling access to people who have put their trust in you? "I was hoping to stir things up," says Baron.

He did anticipate many of the questions. Late on Saturday evening, before hitting the "List Your Item" button on eBay, Baron went through a checklist of issues in his head. For example, he knew selling an online account was tricky. A year ago, when a Digg member tried to sell their account, the service put the kibosh on the transaction. But Baron had checked Twitter's terms of service and thought he was in the clear.

For What It's Worth

There were plenty of things he didn't anticipate, however. He had no idea how much people would bid on eBay. Baron makes it clear that money is definitely not his motivation. "I am not seeing this as a business thing for me," he says. So far, nearly 40 people have bid on the account and the price has shot up to $1,525.

Twitter's popularity explains why people are paying attention. During the past year, the service gained momentum as many of the major Presidential candidates flocked to Twitter and used it to update supporters on their activities, while burnishing their techno cred. Jason Calacanis, a tech entrepreneur, ginned up a contest to garner the most followers on the service. So far, he's made it to No. 3, with nearly 20,000 people signed up to follow him, in part by offering to give away a MacBook Air to one of his followers.