@FanDumb »

Tweets are everywhere now. Mobile devices, other websites, on tv, the Library of Congress, et al. There are people that use it as a platform to share their thoughts with whoever will listen. There are others that use this “new” form of communication to gain notoriety, in their own minds, with others. One way that many people have chosen to do this is by pestering celebrities on Twitter. The motives are always the same: people desire a reply or follow back to acknowledge the target celebrity knew of their existence for at least a brief moment in time.

When I say pester I mean that people tweet the same celebrity over and over again giving their tweets a better chance to be seen by the target. I’ve seen up to 500 tweets in one day from one user to one celebrity. Think of that celebrity trying to use Twitter. Looking in their mentions to interact with fans. The only thing they see is a steady flow of garbage. “Follow me”, “Tweet me”, “I’m obsessed” rings out over and over again. Celebrities create content that you enjoy and vote with your dollars to guide them on what to do next. Fan interaction when you’re a celebrity is key but they are not your puppet. Ashton Kutcher has more important things to do (like Demi Moore) than to make sure he follows Amy from Detroit.

What to do? I’m tracking these people. Every day tweets from people to “Twitter Verified” accounts are collected. Every night the data is processed and data is released through the day. I’ll provide the data, you provide the public backlash. I have no problem with celebrity. I have a problem with people overstepping their bounds with celebrities. They are content producers. Celebrities need us to consume, be a fan, and interact with them.