Free to follow (or not) on Twitter

Adam is an insightful fellow. He put into words what I have been thinking: celebrities are not ruining Twitter because nobody is forced to follow celebs — or anyone — on Twitter. Please read Celebrities Are Not Taking Over Twitter for the rest of the below insightful excerpt:

Celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O’Neal and Britney Spears are not taking over Twitter.  A well publicized event like Oprah tweeting on her show won’t help.  Ashton vs. Larry King, in a contest to see which account, @aplusk (“a plus k”) or @cnnbrk can reach a million followers first is a publicity event that had lots of benefits for both in terms of building large networks, but they are not taking over.  Any way you slice it, their efforts are futile. They can’t take over Twitter because of one simple fact: people choose who they follow.

The Twitterati Version 1 are bitter and jealous but they should be ecstatic because they,  the first Twitterati, were, in fact, ground zero for something that has taken the world by storm.

It is the same for Internet Denizens Version 1 complaining as the unwashed AOL members flooded into USENET.

What Adam might be saying and I am surely stating is that this breakout is good and that there is still plenty of room in Twitter to hide in plain site.  Additionally, there is little or no use complaining.

We not only must compete with the Ashton Kutchers and Oprahs of the world but we are also dealing with their media machine, their publicists, their networks and their studios as well — in addition to the obvious equity that they’re happy to cash in from their other media platforms to spend of Twelebrity.

I am amazed that after three years and accruing “merely” 6,347 Followers, I have chosen to spend my time well by investing in 140 characters x 16,210 tweets, resulting in around 2,269,400 characters.

So, heaven forbid I had spent all of that energy in Pownce, which has died, instead of the winner, Twitter — now that would be a waste.

Unlike my blog, which is surely my very own intellectual property that I can maintain forever, my Twitter content is dependent on the health of Twitter. So, I feel blessed, amazed, and triumphant that Twitter has become de rigeur in the world of online media outreach, content-sharing, and community outreach.

Related articles

• Free to follow (or not) on Twitter (socialmedia.biz)
• Lesson learned – Ashton Kutcher: Twitter has grown beyond more than “a fun tool” (nextlevelofnews.com)
• Oprah takes Twitter into the mainstream (socialmedia.biz)
• #MotivationMonday: Steve Jobs, Ashton Kutcher, and Brian Preston! (mmfable.wordpress.com)
• Ashton Kutcher’s Company Sued by Producer Over DMV Reality Series (thewrap.com)
• Lenovo Instagram Post Hints at Ashton Kutcher Collaboration (mashable.com)
• Roseanne Barr Rips Ashton Kutcher And Chuck Lorre On Twitter Over Plagiarised Jokes (popwrapped.wordpress.com)
• Invi gets $3M from Ashton Kutcher & others to ‘replace your native SMS’ (venturebeat.com)
• Ashton Kutcher Tops Forbes List of Highest-Paid TV Actors (gossipcop.com)
• Were Ashton and Mila PUNKing Dan Rooney? (starpittsburgh.cbslocal.com)

Chris Abraham is a partner in Socialmedia.biz. Contact Chris via email, follow him on Twitter and Google Plus or leave a comment below.