Tweets Not Paved With Gold

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According to reports on  Paidcontent.org and WebPronews.com, a study by the Calif.-based Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism of nearly 200 issues involving the Web's impact on Americans revealed that although 49 percent of the study's 1,981 respondents said they used Twitter and other social networking sites, 0 percent of those respondents said they would be willing to pay to use them.

Zero percent. If the same-sized sample were polled about their willingness to grab a beer with Sen. Harry Reid, kiss Rush Limbaugh on a bet or if they have actual proof that President Obama is the spawn of Satan, the results would be higher than 0 percent. Fortunately, Twitter, the San Francisco-based microblogger, has not yet announced any plans to charge for its service.

Still, the director of Annenberg's Center for the Digital Future, which conducted the study, said the zero percent reflects the problems faced by entities that ask Internet users to pay for something the users are accustomed to receiving for free. Take note, paywall-promoting online newspaper sites.