Screw professional blogging, become a professional Twitterer
About a week ago, the Wall Street Journal's Mark Penn reported that there may be as many as 450,000 "professional" bloggers out there who are pulling in at least some modicum of income, a figure that was met with a fair amount of skepticism. But while we're busy arguing over pro blogging numbers, perhaps we should be asking ourselves an even more specific question: How many people out there have 40-hour-a-week jobs that simply require them to Twitter?
OK, so I've often wondered about the realities of making a living blogging. Never having to leave my apartment...working in my underwear...never being more than a few steps from my coffeemaker...yeah, those are all things that might seem appealing. But what if I want something even simpler and less...uh, rigorous?
Well, as Simon Owens tells us, there's at least one company out there that's hired...yes, a professional Twitterer. I like Twitter, but I'm not at all sure what it's really useful for. Sure, it's a vast, unrivaled time-suck...but an actual, honest-to-[insert name of preferred deity here] career path? With paychecks and benefits and everything?? I don't know about you, but I'm not so sure I'd have the attention span for it. At least if I was a professional blogger, I'd get to indulge my writing jones, but Twittering? How creative can you be when you're limited to 140 characters?
Then again, if someone offered me six figures to be a Twit-terer...I'm not certain I'd have it within myself to say no. Creative is as creative does, I suppose. The idea of getting paid for something that still impresses me as little more than mental masturbation seems a bit odd, but what do I know?
If you're hiring, I'm listening.... ;-)
