Oh, the irony!
Twitter screenshot
You may have read that Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced last week the company rejected advertising as a business model, preferring add-ons and service enhancements over user intrusiveness and human resources.
I bet you didn’t see a TV series coming.
But what do we see in today’s Variety? A TV series about Twitter is in the works.
The San Francisco-based web phenom has partnered with Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment to develop an unscripted TV skein described as “putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format.”
I’m sure Ashton Kutcher and the Shaq are lining up to cameo.
It gets better. Check out this informative bit by Harry McCracken:
The Twitter TV series was created by Amy Ephron, whose sisters Nora and Delia came up with 1998’s AOL-inspired You’ve Got Mail-–an earlier attempt by Hollywood to cash in on an online trend. It was the first thing that jumped to mind when I read about the Twitter show, even before the Ephron connection dawned on me. Wasn’t 1998 about the time that AOL jumped the shark?
I see it now. Twitter, Inc. earns royalties from the TV programming, injects the cash into sprucing-up its offerings, and no longer gets accused of fail whales and service disruptions.
But here’s the kicker: If Biz is so against running ads to interfere with Twitter’s users, surely he can’t support what will ultimately be TV spot commercials, can he? Or will this be an internet-only TV show, running on Hulu or such and devoid of commercials?
Questions, questions.
Zee shares information, via Gawker, that an official Twitter book is also planned for release this fall.
I wonder which comes first: the Twitter book or TV show–or the Facebook movie.
You read that right. I wonder how Aaron Sorkin is progressing with writing the screenplay for the Facebook movie that will allegedly portray the beginnings of the social networking site and Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to fame.
Photo credit: Emily Chang
Related posts:
- 10 Twitter Users Share Why They Use Twitter
- Twitter Grading Over 30 Days
- 11 Examples of Newburyport Users on Twitter
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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Wow! Actually, this doesn’t surprise me at all. I saw Biz Stone on The Colbert Report about a month ago and I wondered how they were going to make money on Twitter. So, I guess it’s all about reality TV. Should be interesting to say the least… Maybe they’ll let me in on the action… Who knows? Hey Twitter Guys! If you’re reading this, I’m available!!! LOL!