Are Twitter Followers More Valuable?

By Brian Morrissey • August 19, 2011 •

Are Twitter Followers More Valuable?: The debate over the true value of a social media fan will probably never be neatly resolved beyond: it depends. But there is the question of the relative worth of followers on different platforms. Is someone who follows a brand on Twitter more valuable than one who likes a page on Facebook? The Next Web makes the case that a Twitter follower is more valuable. This comes down to using some research that’s out there to conclude that the Twitter followers is an early adopter and “influencer.” I’ve noticed it’s usually the people who self-identify as early adopters who eagerly reach the conclusion of their influence. It’s again not clear whether a Twitter follower is more valuable. In our small subset at Digiday, I find that Facebook drives more visits per follower than Twitter. I’m sure it’s different for every brand and publisher.

Flash Cookies in the Clear: It appears the lawsuits cobbled together over the use of flash cookies — or what the WSJ is calling “supercookies” — have come to an ignominious end. This brings up the possibility that this tracking tactic won’t become an issue for the industry. That’s a tempting conclusion, but not one I’d bet on. It depends on whether the use of regenerating cookies is very widespread. If it is, the industry has a major problem on its hands. The whole concept just doesn’t sit right — and won’t with lawmakers or regulators.

Startups Get a Rap Song: It’s come to this: there’s a tongue-in-cheek rap song about the hard knocks life of late-night pizza-eating and building product. The title fits the era: “Takin’ VC Money.”

The Non-Scandal Scandal: It’s the dog days of August. This is when the silly season starts for press needing stuff to write about. It’s no mistake Abercrombie & Fitch got so many outlets — WSJ, really? — to bite on its PR bait about the Situation. In the tech world, it’s the shocking — shocking! — news that Ashton Kutcher used a guest editing gig at Details to flog companies he’s invested in. Does anyone expect the guy best known for a pranks show to be a paragon of journalistic ethics? Even more, what does Details — I didn’t know it was still around — expect from getting Kutcher to direct an issue? Might be time for everyone to head to the beach for a couple weeks.

More in Media

Graphic of a dollar sign-shaped key unlocking a lock, symbolizing the key to unlocking successful performance marketing through the seven stages of development

Digiday @ DMEXCO

The Rundown: Recapping Digiday’s four onstage interviews during DMexco 2025

September 19, 2025

The fireside chats touched on a variety of top-of-mind topics for the media and marketing execs in attendance.

Digiday Publishing Summit

Why The Hill credits growing engagement for its social traffic bump

September 19, 2025

After experiencing a bump in Facebook referral traffic earlier this year, The Hill’s social traffic is continuing to climb in the second half of 2025. Year-over-year between September 2024 and September 2025, The Hill’s overall social traffic increased by 20 percent, according to The Hill deputy managing editor of audience and content strategy Sarakshi Rai, who shared the figure during a talk at this week’s Digiday Publishing Summit in Miami.

Digiday Publishing Summit

Inside Bloomberg Media’s survival guide for the AI era

September 18, 2025

The business news publisher has yet to sign a content licensing deal with an AI company, but it did recently implement a new AI-powered on-site search engine.