How Much Is That Tweet In The Window?

A Tweet may represent a mere 140-characters; however a recent investigation in the UK is exposing that those 140-characters can represent big money. In July, 2010, the Office of Fair Trading (UK) (OFT) launched an investigation on its own initiative into Handpicked Media (Handpicked), a self-described "Collective of independent sites and blogs with a focus on publishers", due to suspicion that it was engaging and paying individuals for online promotional activity in circumstances where such remuneration was not clearly disclosed to consumers. It was the OFT's view that Handpicked was operating in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR) which prohibits the use of editorial content in the media, including Twitter, blogs and other social networking websites, for the purpose of product promotion where the promoter has been paid, unless such payment is clearly identifiable to the consumer.