Pretending to be local?

If you choose to do so, you can use the Internet to target a very small vertical cross-section of the total Internet audience, allowing you to focus on just those things that are of interest to you. Therefore, since the Inland Empire of California is one of four chosen Empoprises focus areas, I was very pleased when my Twitter account was followed by @OntarioCA. But as I read the tweets, I noticed something. See if you can notice it also.

We love Ontario's unique local businesses & they need all of us. Make your Local Pledge now! http://ow.ly/1DQU6

Donate to a local charity? Love a local restaurant? Shop the farmers market? Make a My Local Pledge now & tell friends! http://ow.ly/1EgZT

If you read these and other tweets, you will note that these tweets are devoid of specific local content. The tweeter (or tweet committee) doesn't make explicit mention of Chaffey High School or Vince's or anything that is actually in Ontario.

The reason becomes apparent when you go to the linked website, My Local Pledge. On the one hand, the website strongly urges people to buy in their local communities. On the other hand, it covers a lot of local communities.

Agoura Hills
Anaheim
Bakersfield
Bellflower
Berkeley
Beverly Hills
Brentwood
Burbank
Calabasas
Carlsbad
Carson
Chatsworth
Chico
Chula Vista
Claremont
Clovis
Concord
Corona
Costa Mesa
Culver City
Daly City
Eagle Rock
El Cajon
Encino
Fremont
Fresno
Glendale
Glendora
Hermosa Beach
Huntington Beach
Irvine
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Los Feliz
Malibu
Manhattan Beach
Marina Del Rey
Newport Beach
North Hollywood
Northridge
Oakland
Oceanside
Ontario
Oxnard
Palm Springs
Palmdale
Pasadena
Pleasanton
Pomona
Redondo Beach
Reseda
Sacramento
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara
Santa Clarita
Santa Monica
Sherman Oaks
Silver Lake
Stockton
Studio City
Tarzana
Thousand Oaks
Torrance
Van Nuys
Venice
Ventura
West Hollywood
Woodland Hills

This got me wondering - where is My Local Pledge itself based? If I support My Local Pledge, am I contributing to Ontario? Well, according to a whois search, I'm not:

Registrant Info: (FAST-14284098)
City Sites LLC
Katherine Higgins
1011 East Olive Ave
Burbank, California 91501
United States
Phone: +1.8185667660
Fax..:
Email: kate@citysitesinc.com
Last modified: 2010-04-01 00:36:29 GMT

Well, let's see if I get a response to this tweet:

@OntarioCA Is Vince's open today?

Of course, if I were really smart, I'd tweet that on a Wednesday...

P.S. I just belatedly discovered Vince's Spaghetti's Facebook page.