Show Rundown: March 30, 2011
Ronnie Isn’t Mad, He’s Just Hurt
Bewared of Twitter Imposters in the Twitterverse
JD Is An Inside Joke
Bix Stone: Ex-Google Guy Made Good
The Main Question: Is Twitter Really Worth Anything?
Twitter’s Biz Stone Verifies One Staffer
Twitter’s Biz Stone Verifies One Staffer
Biz promised to verify one Twitter-happy Stern staffer if they could make their case in less than 30 seconds, so the crew filed in: Ronnie the Limo Driver said he had 40,000 followers and several impostors: “I have imitators that get on there with my picture and everything. They get on there and call women whores and sluts in my name.”
JD said he had 80,000 followers: “I take my tweeting very seriously, and, uh, yeah, I have people impersonating me…I do, like, have a sort of–it’s a low level of fame and I can’t get much out of it. This would be [enough].”
Brian Phelan said he didn’t draw the same numbers as his colleagues: “These guys have followers. I have none. I have 2,000 followers. Nobody knows who I am. And I’m gonna party with anybody who does follow me.”
Jason said he’d worked to promote Twitter to the staff: “I have been on Twitter for years. I love Twitter. I helped Benjy set up his account. I helped Howard set up his account…I take Twitter very seriously.”
And Benjy’s just plea made no sense: “I love Twitter. It’s changing the world. But unfortunately, for me, I’m severely impersonated. People are copying me. People are putting their pictures up. They stole my parents away. They stole my real friends. They stole my girlfriend.”
Biz awarded the ‘Verified’ status to Ronnie: “Verification was designed so people would not be impersonated…I think we owe him a little something.”