If you’re trying to figure out what social media means for you and I and the companies with which we do business, JetBlue’s move to use YouTube stars to promote their new Boston-to-LAX route is a great lesson.

The airline hired Howcast, a video production company with a twist, to make some air travel how-to videos, like “How to Fly Coast to Coast.” Building off of this, Howcast has enlisted self-made social media stars, like Justine Ezarik and Kevin Nalts, to promote JetBlue using the tools of their trade, like videos and tweets.

For example, one such social media celeb, Meghan Asha, has a lifecast of her activities, which includes flying the inaugural Boston-to-LAX flight.

Except for a few outdoor, print and radio ads purchased in the Los Angeles and New York City markets, these social media stars are the main thrust of JetBlue’s promotion about their new route, according to AdAge.

Here are a few reasons why this strategy matters and why it has some trendocity.

1) Authenticity: The social media stars are non-celebrities in the eyes of many, especially their followers. These aren’t movie stars or athletes, and they’re not paid pitch people (more on that later). They’re people like you and I who have some talent and an eye for using social media to entertain.

So when they hock something, they put a person-next-door spin on it, a more one-to-one element on their endorsement than a celebrity would have if they were pitching JetBlue. Besides, you probably wouldn’t believe a famous person would fly a discount airline like JetBlue, considering the airline doesn’t even offer first-class seating.

It’s no secret people tend to opt for products and services someone they trust has endorsed. The advent of social media, especially communities like Facebook, has provided immense opportunity to companies looking to exploit peer endorsements. No longer do marketers have to rely on physical word-of-mouth to sell something. They can tap into virtual word-of-mouth marketing via social media, allowing individuals to more greatly promote a product.

Instead of telling your neighbor at a barbecue what detergent they should try, you can tell all of your Facebook friends. This is what JetBlue is looking to leverage.

2) Popularity: One of the reasons JetBlue enlisted social media stars instead of you or I is because they needed people with a large, established following.

While most of us think, if given an opportunity, we can be entertaining and loved, JetBlue needed people who already have this going for them. For one thing, these folks have proven they know what they’re doing. Also, they have a built-in following of folks, and it’s most likely a larger following than my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and FriendFeed connections combined. (But seriously, connect with me in all those communities so JetBlue will reach out to me next time they start a new route.)

3) Transparency: JetBlue isn’t paying these social media stars to promote them. The stars do receive a free flight on the Boston-to-LAX route, but no money will change hands between JetBlue and the stars.

Plus, Howcast requires each star to disclose they’re promoting JetBlue in all the videos they make.

This helps maintain the integrity of using social media to market and prevents a Julia Allison-sized disaster, in which the blogosphere and social media world jumped all over another social media star who hocked for Sea World, yet didn’t immediately disclose the connection.

Most rational people understand that companies need to market themselves, and we realize social networks provide you great access to your target markets. We just don’t want to be tricked. That violates the essence of why social media is so popular, especially among us Millennials.

By making sure their social media stars disclose their connection to JetBlue, Howcast is ensuring the followers of their stars don’t revolt, thereby eliminating the reason for trying this strategy in the first place. This also protects the stars from tarnishing their image in the eyes of their followers.

4) Relevancy: JetBlue’s regular-Joe strategy fits with its recent ad campaign, in which it taps into the anti-elitist mentality now pervasive in American culture.

JetBlue is making it clear that they’re here for people like you and I, which is exactly the point of social media.

Before social media, high school classmates waited 10, 20 or 30 years to reconnect at a reunion, professionals expanded their horizons based on what their co-workers and bosses taught them and you and I, we probably would have never met.

Social media brings the world closer to us, and us closer to each other. It’s OK if companies want to join in the fun, as they’re as much a part of our lives as anything, or anyone, else, but they need to play by the rules. JetBlue’s strategy looks to be doing just that.

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant