Who isn’t talking about Twitter these days? It seems like everyone…and that’s probably accurate to a certain degree in news circles. However, as Twitter gets loads of mainstream attention it’s us geeks that are still in the trenches reporting on the finer points of this increasingly popular micro-blogging service.
Not long ago tech entrepreneur Jason Calacanis offered Twitter $250,000 to be put on Twitters “suggested users” list. Suggested users are default individuals that show up when new users join Twitter. Since this “feature” was implemented suggested users have seen massive gains in followers almost instantly (to the tune of thousands in some cases). Calacanis wanted to be on this list for two years but Twitter has yet to comment on the status of his offer.
TechCrunch is now reporting on an interesting turn of events surrounding this story. Apparently another Twitter user, Brandon Mendelson has offered to sell his suggested user account to Calacanis and in turn he would donate the money to breast cancer research:
“I have a suggested user spot on Twitter. I am thankful to Ev and the folks there for choosing me to have this spot. But I don’t have an ego, and to me, it is not about how many followers I have. I know that we stand in the worst economy many of us have ever witnessed. People need help, and they need help now. I want to help those people.
I don’t know how we could arrange this, but if you’re serious, and this is not some B.S. marketing ploy, I will ask the folks at Twitter to give you my spot, and we, the Foundation, will take the $250,000 to put it toward the fund.”
Bravo, Brandon! Bravo!
I can’t speak to the legalities of how this transaction may work but if it happens this is a massive win for the fight against breast cancer. Check out the TechCrunch story for more details.
Bob Starr, code named Starbuck, is a geek with a passion for film journalism and technology. You can follow Bob on Twitter (
