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March 2009

Why I Magpie: Tech Talk Tuesday

Back in November of 2008 there was a new kid on the block. Magpie. Magpie is a start up out of Germany wherein advertisements are placed in a twitterers stream.

At first there was an “I hate Magpie” uproar. Magpie would take away from the authenticity of Twitter. There are still folks who say they will instantly unfollow anyone who uses Magpie. I guess I’ll lose them.

instant-unfollow

Can we face facts? Your beloved authenticity is a hoax. Most of the Social Media personalities are finely honed marketing instruments. If I go to one more tech party where I hear someone referring to their spouse as a brand, I think my head might spin off my shoulders. Publicists have bloggers and microbloggers singing their client’s praises all for a dinner out and a bottle of shampoo.

Years ago blog pursists were appalled when folks started adding Google Adsense to their blogspot pages. Today we all expect to see advertising widgets on the sidebar.

Glam Media used the Emmy Awards for sponsored tweets. There are twitter parties and hashtags and publicists roaming the Twitterverse. Why not an advertisement? At least it’s transparent.

I had some concerns about Magpie being a scam. I’d had a quick burst of advertisements from them, and then nothing for a while. I realize now that they’re new, and probably had some growing pains. In addition to all of that, I’m not the ideal person to advertise with.

I cuss
I point fingers
I start boycotts
I abhor WalMart and make a hobby of taunting the Eleven idiots Moms

But even with all that, Magpie still finds a few advertisers for a Mom like me. Why? Because the people who follow me appreciate a little cheekiness and can see past a curse word. I made a few dollars, and I didn’t do any extra work, five thousand people looked at an advertisement, that was most likely for a small company that we’d all appreciate anyhow. There are tons of etsy shops on Magpie, who doesn’t like chicks who knit?

why-i-magpie

Tell me, what’s wrong with that?

I’m going to go against all my initial instincts and wholeheartedly recommend Magpie both for advertisers and for publishers.

It’s like the perfect marriage, me and a friendly German Bird.

#magpie