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"A startup called Chirpify introduced a platform on Wednesday that lets you buy and sell things as well as donate money on Twitter. \nThe Portland, Ore., company has linked up with PayPal to make Twitter-based transactions, a.k.a. \"T-commerce\" sort of like writing a check. \nFor instance, you can buy stuff from your favorite brand just by tweeting \"@favoritebrand Buy\" (assuming they use Chirpify, of course.) You can also donate by typing \"@politician Donate.\" \nThe platform also enables peer-to-peer transactions. If you owed your friend $20, for instance, you could \"donate\" the money back to him via a Twitter-enabled smartphone, making the check analogy all the more apt.\nSo far, PowerBar is the only brand using Chirpify. Starting this week, fans of the brand can buy merchandise from PowerBar using Chirpify over Twitter. Chris Teso, CEO and founder of Chirpify, says he hopes that PowerBar and other brands he brings on to the platform will help spread the word about his company. \nPowerBar fans, for instance, will see on the company's Twitter feed this week that such transactions are possible, but if they want to buy something, they will have to register with Chirpify. Teso says that the appeal for brands will be obvious: \"It's a way to instantly monetize their followers.\"\nTeso launched a similar concept last year called Sell Simply that was designed more for small vendors selling via Etsy, eBay or Craigslist. Now his company has pivoted to go after larger advertisers. Though there have been a few other attempts to broaden Twitter's somewhat one-dimensional experience, like Blether, a Twitter app that enables private chats, Chirpify appears to be breaking new ground.\nWhat do you think? Would you buy or donate stuff over Twitter? Sound off in the comments.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, ymgerman"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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