A First For Twitter – Advertising Appears On Thai Editor's Profile Page
He is editor-in-chief of The Nation and one of Thailand's most followed Twitter users with a shade over 22,500 followers at time of writing. It is a safe to say that with his large captive, Suthichai Yoon is one of the country's most influential Twitter users.
With such a large following it is logical to assume his profile page receives a sizeable amount of daily traffic.
No need for assumption, Khun Suthichai’s page speaks for itself.
The background of the page is space-to-rent, with an advertisement from Nok Air – "Thailand's domestic airline based in Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok" – currently occupying the space.
As a country, Thailand is fairly tolerant to advertising - just filling up a car with gas an advert is placed on the bonnet while seemingly any space, anywhere can carrying ads.
That said selling out a Twitter page, a personal space online, takes advertising to a new level.
Is it too idealistic to say that social media should be free from advertisements and endorsements? Does everything and everyone have a price?
I’d like to invite Khun Suthichai to provide more information about the Nok Air placement.
- How much money does Nok pay for it?
- How many hits does it register per day and how much custom does Nok receive from it?
- Is it ethical for the editor-in-chief to carry an advert on a personal web page?
One thing is for sure, this a first for Twitter – will it catch on?
