Ask YC: I have a twitter account with 1800+ followers, what do you think it is worth?
I'm just curious what the account may be worth. I've actually had the account less than a week and it has grown quickly. I remember there was some guy who was trying to sell his twitter account on ebay and the bidding was up to $1500+ (for 1500 followers) before he canceled it. I know it kind of depends on what the account name is, etc... But I'd prefer to remain anonymous right now and I am mostly interested in a generic $ value/follower figure. Any best guesses?
Thanks!
6 comments
$0
I just don't understand the draw of twitter. I guess it's just the old "take some old unix app and make it for the web" thing again. Hello wall 2.0.
ETA: the simple fact that you can get 1800 "followers" in a week devalues the "service" even more to me.
I just don't understand the draw of twitter. I guess it's just the old "take some old unix app and make it for the web" thing again. Hello wall 2.0.
ETA: the simple fact that you can get 1800 "followers" in a week devalues the "service" even more to me.
just because you don't understand it does not mean it has zero value.
but the fact that someone can go from 0 to 1800 "friends" in a week (assuming they are a noone like me) has to imply the lack of value of an account with that many friends (and IMNSHO the "service" itself).
"followers" - not "friends." And not necessarily - think about supply and demand. There are a limited number of twitter accounts. If you happen to have a good twitter account name, it may attract many followers and be of value.
Plus, it isn't easy to get that many followers. You can't just sign up and make it happen. I think the number of followers would be of value from at least an advertising perspective.
Why do you assume someone with 1800 followers is a nobody? I'd guess they have a blog that is read by a decent number of people or something like that.
The twitter account is worth nothing, your reputation is what you are attempting to sell.
And as with the offer of a virginity on the open market, the very act of offering it as a commodity devalues it.
And as with the offer of a virginity on the open market, the very act of offering it as a commodity devalues it.
Assuming that a twitter account is equal to a reputation seems kind of absurd to me. As stated in the subject, it is a twitter account (and not a reputation) that I am interested in finding the value of. Everything has some sort of value - even an empty can in the street. I am just curious if anyone has any idea how to value a twitter account (based on the number of followers).
The twitter account is just a conduit; assuming that people are following it because of who is generating it; selling it is an attempt to monetise the repuation.
Now if you did something clever that is automatically pumping stuff interesting enough to follow into Twitter and you're selling that. That's a horse of a different color.
Now if you did something clever that is automatically pumping stuff interesting enough to follow into Twitter and you're selling that. That's a horse of a different color.
Is there anything in the Twitter terms which preclude selling an account?
How much do you think a news.yc account with 5000 karma is worth?
You might want to go the advertising route. Sell one tweet per day or something like that.
I'd have to agree. I think you might be using the service for the wrong reason.
BTW, i think the auction type stuff happened really earlier when it was hard to get on twitter. the barrier is quite low now.
BTW, i think the auction type stuff happened really earlier when it was hard to get on twitter. the barrier is quite low now.
It was actually less than a month ago, and it was the rocketboom founder: http://mashable.com/2008/04/13/twitter-ebay-sale/
that's a long time in the startup world :)
my bad
my bad