- submitted by Amy Vernon on 03/18/2009
Celebs Embrace Twitter. They're As Uninspired As The Rest Of Us
By Amy Vernon
It's no surprise, really, that celebrities have begun embracing Twitter as a means of getting their message straight to their fans -- cuts out the media middleman. Twitter's basically the Cliff Notes version of blogging -- people send out short messages, dubbed "Tweets" -- of 140 characters or less for the world to see. When you choose to follow users, you get a feed of all their messages on your Twitter home page. And celebs naturally have a large follower base right off the bat. Not all celeb Tweets are equal. Erykah Badu (@fatbellybella) and her husband Jay Electronica (@JayElectronica) Twittered the birth of their first child recently. Their followers (their updates are protected and only those they approve may see their Tweets) learned when she was dilated to 8 ½ cm, her water broke and minutes after the baby popped out. Here's some celebs who don't get QUITE that detailed.
Britney Spears: Singer, pop tart
http://twitter.com/britneyspears
First Tweet: Oct. 10, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Sporadic; some days, multiple times, then some days pass with none.
Tweet Back Story: Staff remind followers about TV specials, videos, professional information (Circus was certified platinum Jan. 30) and provide a window into Brit-Brit's life (she had a Pinkberry a few days before Christmas -- the plain flavor with berries in it!). Britney occasionally offers tidbits about her life, such as loving the Madonna concert.
Recent Tweet: Hung out by the pool yesterday, checked out some sketches of costumes for the tour & rented Pride and Glory. The costumes are crazy! ~Brit Feb. 2nd from web
Translation: Can't wait to prance about on stage nearly naked now that I have a bikini bod again.
MCHammer: Dance instructor, '80s phenom
http://twitter.com/MCHammer
First Tweet: April 29, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Prolific -- at least a half-dozen, sometimes more than a dozen times a day.
Tweet Back Story: The man himself. Many of his tweets are responses to followers, from a simple "Thanks" to answers to questions.
Recent Tweet: Just spotted some guy's leaving the Hard Rock Party (From last nite) going straight to the SuperBowl.... oh my my !!!! 2:46 PM Feb 1st from web
Translation: Wish I still had the stamina to stay up all night and party before heading straight to the Super Bowl.
Q-tip: Hip-hop artist and sometime actor, one-time leader of A Tribe Called Quest
http://twitter.com/QtipTheAbstract
First Tweet: Aug. 21, 2007
Tweet Frequency: Often. On one day, he might send out 30, on another, nothing.
Tweet Back Story: The man himself; many of his tweets are responses to followers (as were most on a recent 30-Tweet day), others are recruiting folks to his Ning circle, some are mundane details of his life (mopping up dog pee).
Recent Tweet: Here at the ellen show. What a nice sweet comedian she is !!! about 7 PM Feb 3rd from TwitterBerry
Translation: I'd really like to be invited back.
Jimmy Fallon, comedian, actor
http://twitter.com/jimmyfallon
First Tweet: Dec. 4, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Picking up speed -- started out Tweeting a couple times a day, most days, now Tweets several times a day, almost every day.
Tweet Back Story: The man himself. Responds to followers, sends out amusing photos (visions of Elvis in the paint chips of his radiator), updating people on his appearances.
Recent Tweet: My wife produced this movie (nancy j). It comes out this weekend. Spread the word, Larry Bird. I'm proud of her. http://tinyurl.com/6gup7u 1:07 PM Feb 2nd from Tweetie
Translation: In case my late-night show doesn't do well, my wife's production company's gotta have some hits, so please go see this movie.
Janina Gavankar, actress ("Papi" on The L Word)
http://twitter.com/janinaz
First Tweet: Nov. 18, 2006
Tweet Frequency: Regularly -- sometimes a couple of times a day, sometimes a week or more passes between Tweets.
Tweet Back Story: The lady herself. Updates range from what shows she's working on (an episode of Dollhouse right now) to the latest print she's bought from deviantART.com.
Recent Tweet: I'm ready for some Dr. Mario. It's been took long! 11:23 PM Jan 29th from web
Translation: I'm so excited that I typoed.
John Hodgman: comedian (The Daily Show), author
http://twitter.com/hodgman
First Tweet: April 10, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Several times a day, most days.
Tweet Back Story: The man himself. He has some folks he responds to often (@Twitterkins, @WilW), responds to other followers and offers pithy comments. Used to end almost every Tweet with "That is all."
Recent Tweet: (series of 3)
• This desk is so clean, I don't know what to do. 8:10 AM Feb 2nd from web
• There. I just printed out all of today's twitters and scattered them all over my desk. Today I will reply to them by hand. 8:17 AM Feb 2nd from web
• OK. Everyone should get their replies in about 5-7 business days. I'm sorry I could not overnight them, but they are fictional, so USPS only 9:04 AM Feb 2nd from web
Translation: I'm a comedian. I made a funny.
Shaq: Center, Phoenix Suns
http://twitter.com/the_real_shaq
First Tweet: Nov. 18, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Often. Sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes two to four days pass with no tweets.
Tweet Back Story: The (big) man himself. Not big on spellcheck. Surprisingly (?) humble; responds to followers, gracious to his fans.
Recent Tweet: Im going skydiving,shhhh, wish me luck 2:48 PM Feb 1st from txt
Translation: I hope they don't have to rename me "Splat."
William Shatner: Starship captain, cop and lawyer (on TV)
http://twitter.com/WilliamShatner
First Tweet: June 25, 2008
Tweet Frequency: A few times a week.
Tweet Back Story: The man himself. After signing up for Twitter and sending out one Tweet, he was silent until January. Now he pimps his TV appearances and interviews with other on his show on the Bio channel, "Shatner's Raw Nerve."
Recent Tweet: George Takei claims I never invited him on Raw Nerve. Here's the tongue in cheek story behind it: http://tinyurl.com/ascf4v about 7 PM Feb 3rd from 2 hours ago from web
Translation: I'm still ticked off that George didn't invite me to his wedding.
Richard Branson: owner Virgin Atlantic
http://twitter.com/richardbranson
First Tweet: Oct. 22, 2008
Tweet Frequency: In spurts. Sometimes regularly for several days, then cuts down to one every few days.
Tweet Back Story: Appears to be the man himself. Lets folks know about new posts on his blog and the latest news about him and his company. Urges followers to post questions on his blog. He started by Tweeting his and his crew's efforts to break a record on crossing the Atlantic.
Recent Tweet: post your questions to graduates from the Branson School Of Entrepreneurship in South Africa: http://tinyurl.com/askgraduates 10:15 AM Jan 27th from web
Translation: We're a really great company -- we educate poor South Africans practically for free.
Mischa Barton: Actress
http://twitter.com/MischaBarton
First Tweet: Nov. 13, 2008
Tweet Frequency: Occasional - every few days.
Tweet Back Story: The woman herself. Often pimps her blog, sometimes engages her followers with questions or shares what she's feeling at the moment (she cried during Obama's inauguration speech).
Recent Tweet: Hey guys, go check out out my blog where I clear up some rumors you might have read. Don't believe everything you read! ; ) XOXO MB 1:48 AM Jan 30th from web
Translation: I am not a lesbian.
Demi Moore: Actress
http://twitter.com/mrskutcher
First Tweet: Jan. 26, 2009
Tweet Frequency: Rivaling MCHammer
Tweet Back Story: The woman herself, typos and all. Comments about life, the universe and everything - even got in trouble for complaining about neighbors doing construction work at 7 a.m. Got mad at TMZ for reporting on it.
Recent Tweet: Now I am about ready to open a can of whoop ass on the paparazzi who followed us to the airport. They are so sleazy! Feb 2nd from Tweetie
Translation: I'm so famous, the photographers just follow me everywhere! Aren't they the best?
Author's Bio
Amy Vernon grew up on Long Island and has lived in the Chicago, Miami, Phoenix and NY metropolitan areas at various points in her life. In other words, she's spent her entire life in the suburbs, except that summer she interned for The Courier-Journal in Kentucky, though the Louisville neighborhood she lived in seemed pretty dang suburban.
She has a bachelor of science in journalism (that's a B.S. in journalism, get it?) from Northwestern University and worked for newspapers as a reporter, editor and blogger for nearly 20 years before she was laid off in the great newspaper culling of 2008.
Amy now works from home as a freelance consultant and writer with her husband, a writer/actor/stay-at-home father who has taken on the additional role of office manager as she settles into her new life. Her older son, Rafael, loves zebras, giraffes and elephants, while the younger, Markus, is utterly obsessed with the "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" book and DVD.
Got all that? You can find Amy online waxing poetic about television -- particularly 24, Battlestar Galactica and Lost, not necessarily in that order -- at The TV Tyrant or follow her on Twitter @amyvernon. ...read more rants
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