A very interesting question came up while reading an article on the use of Affiliate links in Twitter.

If you invite me to a BBQ party with friends, only to toss in a Tupperware/Amway/Primerica sales pitch, I’ll be upset, for sure. And my perception of you will definitely be changed.

However, not everyone I follow on Twitter are personal acquaintances, or people I have ever met. They are not necessarily friends, but in fact people with whom I may share a similar interest, point of view of association. They might be my best friends from high-school, or someone whose blog I discovered.

If I follow, say, Mitch Joel, and he posts a link to a newly released Seth Godin book, I might buy it. I may or may not be pissed that Mitch made 35 cents with his affiliate link. It goes into the grey area. (This is just an example, Mitch didn’t actually post that)

Tough to take a black-or-white position on this… There is always a slight malaise when it comes to people making money in general, especially if your friends made money by using their friends. This is why it is often difficult and taxing to do business with friends; to the point where people prefer to avoid it.

The question then becomes: are you selling to friends or strangers?

 

This post is actually based on a comment I posted in reply to Mitch Joel’s post on his blog; Six Pixels of Separation.