'09
Lots of celebrities Twitter these days. Despite my loud protestations, it’s not merely an outlet for raging narcissists (though it certainly serves that function well). John Mayer is a prolific Twitterer. Dina Lohan supposedly started an account, but it turns out it was a fake. The kid behind it did one hell of a good job pretending to be Dina. You’ve got to be smart to play that dumb. Christopher Walken’s Twitter was constantly reposted in people’s Facebook updates – though it turns out that one was faked as well. Lots of letdowns. Well, here are a few more!
According to the New York Times, lots of celebs – maybe even most, it’s impossible to know – have hired ghost Twitterers. You know, like a ghost writer, except they’re only responsible for 140 characters at a time.
The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts. On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him: “My ambition leads me through a tunnel that never ends.” Those were 50 Cent’s words, but it was not exactly him tweeting. Rather, it was Chris Romero, known as Broadway, the director of the rapper’s Web empire, who typed in those words after reading them in an interview.
“He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Mr. Romero said of 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, “but the energy of it is all him.” … someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star’s own voice.
Britney Spears recently advertised for someone to help, among other things, create content for Twitter and Facebook. Kanye West recently told New York magazine that he has hired two people to update his blog. “It’s just like how a designer would work,” he said.
The famous, of course, have turned to ghostwriters for autobiographies and other acts of self-aggrandizement. But the idea of having someone else write continual updates of one’s daily life seems slightly absurd.
The basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, for example, is a prolific Twitterer on his account — The Real Shaq — where he shares personal news, jokes and occasional trash talking about opponents with nearly 430,000 followers. “If I am going to speak, it will come from me,” he said, adding that the technology allows him to bypass the media to speak directly to the fans. As for the temptation to rely on a team to supply his words, he said: “It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.”
In the last couple of months, the Britney Spears Twitter stream has become a model of transparency. Where the feed once seemed that it was all written personally by Ms. Spears — even the blatantly promotional items about a new album — lately it can read like a group blog, with some posts signed “Britney,” some signed by “Adam Leber, manager” and others by “Lauren.” That would be Lauren Kozak, social-media director of britneyspears.com. (Ms. Spears’s management team declined to be interviewed for this article.)
[From the New York Times]
I know celebrities are busy. But the whole purpose of Twitter is that it’s personal and intimate. If you don’t want to share things of that nature (I sure as hell don’t), then just don’t Twitter.
It’s true that a lot of business and brands use it for professional purposes, and the NYT’s does put forth the argument that celebrities are in themselves a brand. But unlike a business, a celebrity is also a human being. The business that Twitters doesn’t have the option of being all that personal. What’s it going to do, tell you its thoughts on love? And a business is probably representing multiple people, so it’s just not possible. A celebrity is just one person. When you’re dealing with an individual on Twitter, the assumption is that’s who you’ve really got. It’s disappointing to find out it’s just another way to advertise. Not surprising, but still a letdown.
Here’s 50 Cent pretending to charge at a photographer after landing at LAX on March 18th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.
Written by JayBird
Posted in 50 Cent, Britney Spears, Christopher Walken, Dina Lohan, John Mayer, Shaquile O’Neil, Twitter
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13 Responses to “Many celebs like 50 Cent & Britney Spears have ghost Twitterers”
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Creeps! stop pretending to be a celebrity and get a real life!
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How do I get hired for that gig!?
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You know a celebrity has reached rock bottom when they can’t even update their own bloody Twitter account.
I mean, if John freaking Mayer can do it…
It’s only 140 characters! And the best part is, all of these celebrities are popping out autobiographies left and right.
Yeah, right. -
And to boot, you can twitter from your frickin phone. lol.
But Ms. Spears is too busy reinventing her shambles of a career (I’m seriously rooting for her though. :))
And 50 is too busy clowning on what’s his face, “I’m the biggest boss” rapper guy. OH! Rick Ross. Rap feuds. Pfft.
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twitter,and facebook,etc. are more like webpages for celebs-necessary pupblicity evils…so it makes sense that they’d play the game by hiring someone. It’s just part of advertising/publicity to most of them,I’m sure.
I actually think the celebs who have time to do it are the real losers.
I’m a non celeb and i don’t twitter. No time,cuz I don’t wanna have time for such lame activities.
I cannot wait for the madness to be over. Actually,doesn’t matter either way-but I do see it as madness that will one day be over. A silly fad…who wants to read your personal journal day in and day out? Can some thoughts be private?
This is just another conditioning tool to get us used to having everyone all in our business 24/7.
You know,robots,technology,big brotherness…what? I already twitter every freakin’ thought that goes through my head-what do I care if they videotape me at airports or stop lights?
pfft… -
Irm, I am total agreement with you on that. I’m all for having the occasional online debate, or sharing an opinion. The twitter thing is too ridiculous to even contemplate. From the looks of it, all big brother’s attempts at documenting our every thought has almost reached its perfection with that device.
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Should have aimed for his head.
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i could see why celebs wouldn havce time for twitter… i hope Nikki Reeds is real… she was talking about her movie Chain Letter that will be coming out see the other day…
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I could see not having time for facebook, as it sucks up your entire life.
But twitter’s pretty quick and can be done from your phone, which I know we all have with us.
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I lobby that Courtney Love gets a ghost writer for her blog.
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Courtney Love just leans on one key until the screen is filled with “k”s.
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i think twitter is the most inane “social netowrking site” to date. celebrity and non celebrity alike, do you really think that people are that interested to know what you are doing every hour on the hour? (let’s be honest most are just updates- like those damn facebook status updates: at the gym….back from the gym….great workout today)get over yourself and while you’re at it get a life, I can’t believe people even have that much free time!
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turns out our celebrity heroes and pop idols are nothing but a bunch of hacks, who’da thunk it?
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