I find it quite funny that Alicia Keys would sign-off Twitter without fulfilling her Twitchange http://www.twitchange.com commitment to orphans in Haiti, which, you guessed it, involved tweeting for them.

Yes indeed, a few months ago, a colleague of mine sent me a news article saying that there would be a ”Twitter auction” to help children in Haiti. The concept is simple : People or companies would bid on a celebrity on eBay and the winners would get ”tweets”, ”mentions”, ”follows” or all three from those celebrities.

As a former volunteer for http://www.ceci.ca now working in e-marketing (for a virtual world for tweens), I thought it was a fantastic idea! Although we are a young start-up, I thought it would be a great way to do a good action while getting visibility in return. We have a tight advertising budget, but I thought ”Hey, instead of giving our money to Google, we might as well give it to charity”. My bosses immediately accepted to give $25,000 to the charity. We won various auctions.

Unfortunately, many celebrities never retweeted, mentionned or followed the winners, as promised. You guessed it, Alicia Keys was one of them, along with Justin Bieber, Joe Jonas, Ashlee Simpson, Neyo, Ciara… and Pete Wentz (who did it all wrong =). Many other people are in the exact same situation: http://twitter.com/twitchangebad ! Most of us never got any explanation or anything and have no update from the stars or Twitchange. At one point, were offered to get our money back, but what an awful thing to orphans in Haiti. That would be like promising to tweet for them and not do it… Oh, wait… I mean, is it that hard to copy and paste a 140 characters message to help orphans in Haiti? Those celebrities wanted the visibility, but weren’t even willing to tweet for those kids in return? Afraid to break a nail are we? What a shame!

So when I saw that Alicia Keys was launching a charity so stars would NOT TWEET!!!
I just couldn’t believe my eyes! Define irony…

Nevertheless, I wish her the best of luck with her charity. An event that will both raise 1 million dollars to help kids with AIDS and shut Kim Kardashian up for a while can do no wrong.

However, despite the fact that the cause those stars are embracing is extremely noble, after all that happened, I can’t help but to feel a bit shocked that multi-millionaire stars would ask the working class to put money on the table so they will tweet again… I understand that it must be very ego-flattering for them, but I feel it would be a bit more legitimate if they would agree to match the amount for instance. Therefore, since the stars taking part in the event are extremely rich and since they need their Twitter and Facebook accounts as promotional tools, I would suggest people to let them put their money where their mouth is and TO DONATE TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS HELPING PEOPLE WIH AIDS INSTEAD. That way, your donation will count double, as the stars and their records companies will eventually have to pay the one million $ themselves to get their beloved Facebook and Twitter accounts back. They want visibility and people’s sympathy… Let them pay for it!

Oh and Twitchange is supposed to have another auction for the Holliday season…

Here are a few charities for Aids and Haiti you could support instead :

HIV – AIDS:
http://unaidstoday.org/
http://www.avert.org/aids-hiv-charity-avert.htm
http://www.cwac.org/

HAITI:

UNFPA http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity is focusing on distributing safe delivery kits and sending essential medical and reproductive health supplies to ensure that women have safe deliveries including emergency caesarean operations. The organization is also working to ensure the personal hygiene and dignity of women and girls by providing supplies like soap, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, and disposable diapers and providing support to hospitals along the boarder area. Donate online.

•K.I.D.S. http://www.kidsdonations.org/, or Kids In Distressed Situations, is delivering clothes, diapers, and water and is asking for cash donations as well as product gifts. To inquire about necessary items you can give, contact K.I.D.S. president Janice Weinman at 212-279-5493

Canadians can give to CECI http://www.ceci.ca/en/where-we-work/haiti/ CECI has been working in Haiti since 1971. With geographical coverage of about a third of the country, we are one of the largest development organizations in Haiti. Through our many projects and programs, we have improved the lives of over 200,000 people. In addition, we have fostered the emergence of new models of partnership between various development stakeholders.

•Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.com/