Ambushing Twitter Celebrity Profiles
Twitter is fast becoming the mainstream micro blogging tool of choice. Much in the same way as Apple’s iPod cornered the music-on-the-move market – Twitter is branching its way into the hearts and minds of the public. It is also getting a helping hand from a number of celebrities beginning to use it as a way to communicate with their fan base. And therein lies a problem in the making.
Our modern day culture has an unhealthy celebrity fixation, with people needing to be fed the latest news and gossip (however, mundane) of what a celebrity has been up-to. No matter what their celebrity hierarchial status (A-list, B-list etc…) there is an audience willing to watch, read or buy into the numerous tv shows, magazines, publications and so on that celebrities endorse and which are produced en masse for the publics consumption.
The celebrity profiles I have come across on Twitter and followed have been diverse, to say the least. Most have had to actually confirm their profile in some way to reassure the sceptics amongst us that they are genuine. Jonathon Ross posed in a picture in front of his Twitter account on his computer screen. Philip Schofield, confirmed his account live on TV.
However, there has been a rise in fake celebrity Twitter accounts and as many see this as just fun and mischief making – there is also a very real undercurrent, of perhaps not tarnishing a celebs reputation, but certainly giving it a good scuff.
For example, lets say the fake account starts mentioning they read a certain paper, eat a certain food, drink a certain drink … you get the picture … it’s false advertising. Taking the situation even further and go into dangerous grounds where the fake celeb account attacks / accuses another person or starts juxtaposing outrageous political viewpoints. It may be fun and fake but the truth is impersonation can bring real problems.
Fake Sarah Palin Twitter Account got thousands of followers
The other side of the coin, however, may be that a real celebrity Twitter account might not be that interesting and following the fake account may be more fun. As long as the lines are drawn and the fake celeb account makes itself known as being just that – fake! One bird cannot veer a flock off course but it can end up being a total pain in the butt.
If you want to check out which twitter celebrity profiles are real and which is fake then I suggest you try http://valebrity.com/
Below is Jonathon Ross and Stephen Fry talking about Twitter on Friday night the 23rd of January 2009 – another surefire example that Twitter is going mainstream.
Filed Under : Opinion
Hey Paul, I’m re-attempting to get into Twitter (so much so that I’m currently writing a post about what exactly it is I didn’t get about it the first time!) After reading this post, I’m thinking it might be worth yet another revisit to follow some of these fake accounts – sounds like they could be amusing and probably not just the usual food updates!
Some are good reading some are just not worth the effort, that is the beauty of Twitter, you get a mixed bag … however, you’ll soon get used to the type of twitterer you like – just like Revels or a Pik n Mix … but your right – you have to try it first to see what grabs your tastebuds
The problems we’re seeing on Twitter aren’t themselves new. But what Twitter has done is — within its own microcosm — make these issues much more visible.
And because Twitter is heavily populated by media-savvy types (like us), the focus is intense and is nearly always bound to attract greater and wider media attention than it really commands.
We could say this is all just a storm in a tea cup, but these are genuinely difficult issues that need to be resolved before Twitter (or any possible successor) hopes to go mainstream in the real sense that most people imagine…
Twitter is a great and simple idea and may be valuable for many different kinds of people: the schoolgirls and schoolboys who wants to share information about being hungry or their disappointed love and serious businessmen who would like to get in touch with their’s customers or partners.
There are a lot of systems like twitter – but twitter is the one. Maybe because it’s simplicity.