When Oprah hefted her considerable bulk into the Twitter bandwagon this week, sending the site’s servers reeling with a 43 percent jump in traffic, she was only the latest in a quickly growing list of celebrities to use microblogging to reach the masses. The idols we love to fawn over have begun spoon feeding their thoughts to the masses, 140 characters at a time, over the Web. And if you’re a fan of celebrity gossip rags, Perez Hilton, and Extra, you had better grab an account and start catching up. But with such a flood of celebs out there, who to follow? We sifted out our top 10 celebrity twitterers.
Talking about cats on Twitter must be the most cliché misuse of microblogging we can even think up, but when Monty Python legend John Cleese blogs about his chickens, we have no complaints. As it turns out, his life is also like one big comedy sketch, making this one of the funniest feeds out there.
Best Tweet: “Terry Gilliam invented Time Travel (hence his Time Bandits film). We went forward in time, watched YouTube, and stole our own ideas. Clever!”
Love him or hate him, our favorite 90’s alt-rock front man seems to be seeking to be popping up all over these days, including on every celebrity’s new favorite stomping ground: Twitter. His cryptic, intriguing and questionably sane tweets help shed some light on what’s going on inside that bald head of his. Hint: It’s pretty weird.
Best Tweet: “Each one of us a living Sun, readily able to transmute the best of our Love in grace.”
After getting acquainted with this showman’s political side with a few seasons of Penn & Teller’s Bullsh*t! and Penn Says on Crackle, we couldn’t resist checking out his Twitter. And weren’t disappointed. The funnyman offers everything from spur-of-the-moment political commentary to fish-out-of-water stories accounts of his new life as a pundit.
Best Tweet: “I guess Larry King went alright. I can never tell. The other people do politics for a living. I’m a juggler and magician. Who knows?”
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the congenial host of Reading Rainbow and Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation, LeVar Burton’s Twitter page is probably more information than you’ve ever wanted to know. That said, be sure to check out his intriguing tattoo, and updates on the Star Trek family. He had dinner with Worf last night!
Best Tweet: “When you think Levar Burton, is your first thought with or without the visor? Be honest.”
Speaking of Star Trek alumni, Wil Wheaton, once known by his character Wesley Crusher, has been broadcasting his thoughts across the Web long before there was Twitter, Facebook or even MySpace. Not surprisingly, he’s now on Twitter as a sort of celebrity spokesman for nerds, sharing his thoughts on beer, sports, and Dungeons and Dragons. When will Patrick Stewart get on board?
Best Tweet: “Okay, that’s it, Port Brewing Hop-15 Ale. I’ve had enough of your sass, and now I’m going to drink you.”
Once a well-respected rapper, now widely regarded as a novelty act, you might be surprised to catch MC Hammer’s commentary on respecting women, real men crying, and bullies. The Hammer has a soft side, and he likes to share.
Best Tweet: “One of my cars did not get the memo and just quit !!!”
The Governator tweets. A lot, as it turns out. We’re a little skeptical about whether Arnold is really pumping these out every hour from behind the wheel of his hydrogen-powered Hummer, but there’s no denying the feed shares some useful links and behind-the-scenes pictures.
Best Tweet: “Checking out electric hummer display at SAE. It’s an H3 that gets 100 MPG! Now that’s the type of action I want to see out of detroit.”
Though some manicured celebrity blogs might have you wondering whether they’re real off-the-cuff remarks, or carefully groomed posts from a crew of PR folks, Shaq’s misspelled, rapid-fire succession of posts leave little doubt that they’re from the man himself. Shaq is working his dinner-plate-sized hands to the bone tweeting for you, folks. We love the all goofy cell phone shots, too.
Best Tweet: “The season end tomorro, my diet starts friday, I wanna b a supermodel Underwear style (briefs)”
After an early breech of Twitter etiquette when the queen of middle-aged women posted her very first Tweet in all caps, Oprah seems to have picked up the game quickly, and now offers far more thoughtful commentary. Fans will be happy to catch everything from an inside glimpses of production to the status of her dog’s rabies vaccination. Oh yea, she’s also the reason your mom is on Twitter.
Best Tweet: “HI TWITTERS . THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY .”
You cannot neglect the most followed man on Twitter. Well, you could, but our list would be remiss if we didn’t include him. Best known for his role as Michael Kelso on That 70’s Show, Mr. Kutcher just recently managed to attract 1.3 million followers on Twitter, beating CNN to the coveted 1 million mark. He’s also one of the most profilific celebs, sometimes pumping out dozens of tweets and hour. Ah, to be rich and idle.
Best Tweet: “had nightmares about ted turner last night. He’s a funny guy why isn’t CNN funnier http://tinyurl.com/c985r8”
