Marketing products in print and video are old hat when it comes to getting a product or service out to potential customers, but who do you go to for opinions before you buy: friends, family, and co-workers? Thanks to places like Facebook and Twitter, our opinions are on showcase for everyone to read and re-tweet. At the beginning of the Social Networking age (circa: 2006) according to the article “Peer trust plummets: Is Marketing to blame?” , we spoke openly and honestly to one another, but now is a different story. Marketing firms have started to purchase “influential” voices on the web to promote their products and services. This extra cash on the side may obscure the opinion, and we as an Internet society are starting to question the real motives. Is it sharing wisdom with friends or promoting a product or service via sponsorship?

Belinda Sissom, Feb. 27, 2010

Note: Post not sponsored.