Twitter’s popularity grows in celebrity social networking

Tweet

Social networking sites, like anything else, fall in and out of popularity over time. For instance, MySpace took a backseat once Facebook climbed to prominence as the networking site college students choose when trying to find out what their friends are doing. Now, Twitter is beginning to catch on as the online spot for socialites young and old.

For those of you not familiar with Twitter, it’s essentially just a site devoted to status updates. It’s a lot like the brand-new Facebook layout that was introduced last week, although some may argue that Facebook completely swagger jacked Twitter’s existing layout, but I digress. Twitter allows social network heads like you and I to enjoy the luxury of 24/7 updates, custom layouts and if you’re interesting enough, loyal followers. But Twitter isn’t just for commoners; social elites like P. Diddy are enjoying the site as well.

But do celebrities enjoy Twitter too much? Just last week rapper N.O.R.E. of Capone-N-Noreaga was caught twittering — yes, Twitter has its own verb — on stage while performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Jay Electronica was twittering during the birth of his and singer Erykah Badu’s child a couple months ago, and super producer Just Blaze was twittering away as a short-lived peace came between dueling MC’s Saigon and Joe Budden. But arguably the biggest offender is Diddy, who’s caught the Twitter bug bad enough to twitter in the bubble bath and during a six-hour tantric sex session…yeah.

It’s no surprise, these celebrities love Twitter because it gives them the gift of relevance in a world where rappers and rap moguls alike fade in and out of the spotlight at alarming rates. But will this networking site ever become what Facebook is to college students right now? My guess is probably not, because as long as Facebook is still the only place for you to share embarrassing pictures of your best friends’ bachelor party and play games like “Mafia Wars” and Sudoku, while at the same time keeping an eye on failing and flourishing relationships via your news feed, then Facebook will keep fighting the good fight over the celebrity-approved Twitter.

Landon Antonetti is a journalism junior and production manager for WRFL.