Getting Paid to Tweet

They Integrated Inc., an Ontario based full service advertising and marketing firm has shake the traditional agency structure and created a new staff position dedicated to manage the company's on-line brand presence and its interaction with social media outlets.

Armed with a laptop, an iphone and a HD camcorder, Twintern Charlotte Barker, a recent graduate of the Loyalist College Advertising Program in Ontario, will be paid to send out 'tweets' all summer long as a Social Media Coordinator and to be the on-line "voice" of the company.

The unique job title reflects the company's emerging growth with interactive clients and the ongoing integration of social media strategies into campaign development.

What's interesting about this is that while some companies may be reluctant to invest human and financial resources to engage their customers during a recession, some others are investing in the future of communications. Wondering how it's going to pay off?