My current events presentation for PRC 512 (Social and Digital Media) at Humber College for the postgraduate public relations certificate program. Assignment entailed a 5 minute presentation on a current event topic in the world of social media.

2. What is TwitChange?
YouTube Video: Eva Longoria for TwitChange
- September 15-25, 2010
- http://ebay.com/twitchange
- Twitter users can bid:
• to be followed by their
favourite celeb
• a retweet
• a mention in special tweet

3. The Progress...
• Over 10 000 bids (as of Sept 20, 2010)
• Current bids?

4. “Charitainment”

5. “Charitainment”
• Celebrities as a filtering mechanism
• CNN, “The Year of Charitainment” (2005):
• world of endless woes
• celebrities are attention filters
• Tibet vs. Africa = difficult choice
• Richard Gere vs. Bono = easier choice
TwitChange calls attention to HAITI

6. “The big thing we’re trying to do is to keep the light and keep attention on
Haiti. While the news cycle might not include it so much, we’re trying to use
technology to keep people understanding how big the needs are.”
– Shaun King, founder of TwitChange
(CNN Interview on Sept 16, 2010)

7. The Value of a Tweet
• Philanthropic consumerism
• ex) RED campaign, pink products for Breast Cancer
• New meaning in the digital age
• Tweets = autographs?!
• Tweets, RTs, Followers for sale
 become value-laden COMMODITIES
• Further implications?