Thursday, April 16, 2009

If Twitter Wasn't Mainstream Before, It Will Be After 4pm Today

I started writing a post yesterday about Ashton Kutcher and CNN's contest to get to a million followers but didn't get to finish. My point was going to be how I know it's pathetic to get worked up over something as stupid as the commercialization of Twitter--but that it did offend my nerd sensibilities. As does reading the captions in Star Magazine lately--"Britney tweeted "my dancers were awesome last night"."

The final nail in Twitter's early-adopter elite coffin came yesterday when I was watching Oprah. (Ok, yes, I do watch Oprah and read Star magazine.) In her promo for today's show Oprah dropped the bomb: "The king of Twitter, Ashton Kutcher..."

So much for the revered Twitter Elite; are they now doomed to be replaced by Oprah, Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher? So much for the notion of Twitter as tool to build community, to engage with your followers/customers/fans; Twitter is now being hyped as a popularity contest and a bullhorn for celebrities.

The upside? Maybe celebrities will all start hiring social media assistants to manage their reputations in social cyberspace.

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