Twitter has become a place for celebs to communicate with the world, in 140 characters or less, at a time. Sin’s Eoin Molloy gives us a breakdown of some of the best accounts online…
Long ago, in a time before Twitter, celebrities had to exercise more than their thumbs to get in contact with their fan-base.
In those dark and perilous times, our beloved persons of interest would have to book television shows and press conferences in order to make announcements, with some of them even physically trawling through swathes of fan-mail just to read about how they inspire little Tammy and Jesse Sue, and maybe even see a picture of their cat.
That’s all changed now. With the expansion of the all-conquering ‘internetz’, celebs merely have to tweet (with the added option of taking selfies of themselves in compromising positions), to reach us, their loyal stalkers…I mean, followers.
With some celebrities, exposition to their stream-of-consciousness only unveils a humdrum life that’s every bit as boring as your own. Worse still, some accounts appear to be run by name-dropping, sickeningly-nice PR firms and managers (Jonah Hill, you had such potential), who merely propagate an image of the celebrity as the ultimate being. I mean, just take a look at Britney’s account.
On the other side of the spectrum are the Twitterati, the chosen few. Some celebrity accounts are unexpectedly funny, whereas some are unexpectedly insightful. From David Norris to Frankie Boyle, Twitter provides the casual user with a wide variety of thoughts to expose him or herself to. Here is a run-down of the four funniest, and most controversial, celebrity Twitter accounts, as I see ’em:
1. @kanyewest: Okay, so everyone’s favourite rapper/fashionista/deity has only made 37 Tweets. He’s only following one person (it’s Kim, so cute). He’s barely even Twitter-initiated, so how on earth does the one and only Yeezus have over ten million followers? Perhaps he’s gathered so many loyal supporters off the back of his undeniable modest nature, which can be clearly observed in this selected tweet.
Jokes aside, God only knows what ‘Ye is doing to deserve so many followers. But one thing’s for sure, it’s certainly not his punctuation.
2. Speaking of God, did you know he’s on Twitter? @TheTweetOfGod: I know he’s not a celebrity per se, but if he is to believed in, he created all of them (except for Amanda Bynes, whom he vehemently denies). This account is about as controversial as the Pope defecting to Protestantism, maybe even more so. Run by an irreverent atheist, the account acts as troll-bait to those with deeply-held religious convictions. The page has garnered about one million followers, and the admin has even developed a buddy-buddy friendship with No. 3 in our list, Ricky Gervais. TheTweetOfGod constantly toes the line between gentle humour and out-and-out impertinence, with the former being displayed below in the selected tweet.
3. @rickygervais: In addition to having the most original Twitter handle ever created, the mastermind of BBC’s The Office, has garnered a very respectable tally of five million odd followers. Ricky Gervais’s Twitter account has everything, puns, dry wit, a religious agenda and best of all, bath pics (a self-deprecating kind of selfie that involves screwing your face up to a point where you are no longer recognisable for the enjoyment of others). Unfortunately, Gervais’s bath pic wasn’t allowed to go to print.
4. @amandabynes: for those not familiar with Twitter, this celebrity may take a bit of an introduction. Known to many as that girl who acted in that thing when she was younger. The star of Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show is one of the most entertaining and unpredictable voices in the Twittersphere. She thrashes out a mish-mash of relatable quotes and questionable advice on the daily in tweets like ‘whatever angers you owns you’ and ‘if you look good words can’t hurt you.’ Between obsessing over rap artist Drake, and obsessing over plastic surgery, and obsessing over her weight, the sanity of poor Ms Bynes has been called into question. However, there’s always the chance that it could all just be one big publicity stunt. Evidence for that theory can be seen in the tweet.
Yikes!
So there you have them, not that you were any worse off without them in the first place. For many people, Twitter is a window into the day-to-day life of their favourite stars. And for the rest, it’s plain old free advertising.
