I came across this video today of Eva Longoria asking celebrities to get involved with her new charity that’s helping rebuild homes in Haiti, but something about the message seemed off.
Eva, along with eBay and Kompolt, have joined forces to auction off celebrity followers and “special Tweets” to bidders. Basically, if you want Ashton Kutcher or Lady Gaga to start following you on Twitter, all you have to do is make the highest donation to aHomeinHaiti.org. The video suggests that some celebrities can offer to donate a “follow” while other celebrities can donate a personal Tweet to the oh-so-charitable person. Probably something along the lines of “Big ups to @SuperCaringHuman 4 doing all the Haitians a solid!”
In the video Eva says that they’re auctioning off these Twitter “privileges” instead of memorabilia or other typical auction items, but I dunno… something about this feels kind of dirty to me. It’s basically just underlining the fact that people are more motivated by fleeting fame than they are by genuinely helping people. Do we really live in a world where someone is more likely to pay to have a celebrity follow them on a social networking site than toss some cash in the direction of their fellow man who’s in need? Gross.
That being said, you can feel free to follow me on Twitter. I might hit you back for free and uhhhh, technically I live next to a Haitian dude. Pretty much the same thing.
What’s wrong with that? Celebs auction off items all the time for charity. Besides, what’s the difference between valuing a “vacation for two” or a tweet? You can’t change what people value, but you can harness that and turn it into good!
Haiti is a disgusting poor place. Sending them money and things is not going to help them in the long run. They need jobs and education and a law system that isnt corrupt.