Why I De-activated My Sponsored Tweets Account

I’ve sent out over 20,000 tweets since getting started on Twitter. Exactly three of them have been sponsored (via Sponsored Tweets). Each carried a disclosure of some kind and I earned a total of $23 from those tweets.

But some feelings kept nagging me, so I erred on the side of caution and de-activated my account… and I’d like to tell you why (whether you care or not).

First, I don’t think you should avoid sponsored tweets solely on the basis of what I say. There’s a good, healthy debate going on within the Twitter community and that debate should probably continue.

Therefore, I’m actually going to state some points to the contrary of where I’m really going with my thoughts.

A Case for Using Sponsored Tweets

I’ll be brief. I like the service Sponsored Tweets offers because they do require disclosure, they try to avoid spammy accounts becoming users (by looking for accounts with a minimum number of followers and tweets), and the offers I tweeted were good ones, especially the one asking people to buy gifts for suffering patients.

I also like that I remained in total control – they never inject anything in your Twitter stream without your permission.

Now, the reasons why I de-activated my account…

Sponsored Tweets Don’t Seem Natural

I talk about things I like on Twitter all the time – brands, products, restaurants, etc. I do this for free. I don’t send them a bill when I mention them.

But with Sponsored Tweets, I get paid to recommend things I wouldn’t naturally talk about, so it kind of disrupts the natural flow of my own conversation.

Twitter Doesn’t Even Do Sponsored Tweets

Some pretty creative guys built Twitter and they don’t charge anything for its use. I’ve never seen a single tweet from Twitter itself that was sponsored by anyone.

Until the company monetizes its own stream, I think I feel a little guilty about doing so myself.

I realize there are easy arguments against this point, but it’s a gut feeling.

I Might Lose the Trust of a Follower

I have thousands of followers and I appreciate them all. If I come across the wrong way with just a few of them, I think I’d find that disappointing.

If someone unfollowed me because of an #ad hashtag, I think I’d be a little sad. So I’d rather have your trust.

At the end of the day, the only reason I could think of to stick with sponsored tweeting was the money, and that’s just not reason enough for me.

For you, it may be different, so make your own decision, but weigh all of these thoughts heavily.

Author’s Bio: Darren Carter is an expert marketing consultant and is associated with an SEO and marketing agency. He is a proficient freelance writer who works for many online publications where he covers online business related topics. He also offers his knowledge, particularly on SEO, social media marketing and many more.