Russian site lets Twitter users monetize their social influence

Russian Twistock treats Twitter users like stocks that can be bought and sold, offering participants a way to earn virtual cash and real goods in the Twistock Store.

It’s no secret that some Twitter users have more social influence than others, and we’ve even seen at least one company offer discounts based on that factor alone. Russian Twistock, however, takes that premise several steps further by treating Twitter users like stocks that can be bought and sold, offering participants a way to earn virtual cash and real goods in the Twistock Store. Launched in September, Twistock bills itself as “а simulator of trade exchange where you can invest in Twitter accounts.” When users sign up, they get a starting sum of virtual money that reflects both the number of followers they have and their microblogging activity, according to a report on East-West Digital News. They are also given a stock for their own Twitter account, the value of which also reflects their social influence. Users can then buy and sell each other’s stocks, causing their value to go up or down and potentially earning those involved some extra virtual cash, redeemable for real-world items in the Twistock Store. “Twistock provides Twitter users with an opportunity to monetize their social influence,” co-founder Alexey Giyazov told EWDN. “It also offers a chance to get closer to the ones you admire: anyone can own Justin Bieber stocks, or even acquire a controlling stake of Barack Obama.” Twistock’s plans currently target North America and Asia, including China’s equivalent of Twitter – Weibo. Could this social networking as money-spinner model take off worldwide? Spotted by: Judy McRae