Faux Authenticity: For Whom the Twitter Tolls
Posted by andreaitis on March 27, 2009
Another illusion shattered. All those celebs twittering? Well, some of them are Cyrano de Twitters. I can’t wait for the outcry from authentic star twitterers who will look down upon those outsourcing their twittering.
And, no matter what, please don’t tell me the_real_shaq is not the real Shaq. Surely a fake Shaq couldn’t Twitter like that.
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.
It is not only celebrities who are forced to look to a team to produce real-time commentary on daily activities; politicians like Ron Paul have assigned staff members to create Twitter posts and Facebook personas. Candidate Barack Obama, as well as President Obama, has a social-networking team to keep his Twitter feed tweeting.
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.
via When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking – NYTimes.com.
de.tech.ting 
Vickie Karp said
Do the writers follow them around all day, every day, tasting their food, listening on the extension of their phones, and sitting next to them in the backseat of big cars? It sounds like the next cottage industry.
Nancy Miller said
In the silver-lining department, it’s good to know that writers are getting paid for online content. I bet Britney and Kanye offer some serious $$. I wonder if they prefer fiction or non-fiction scribes.
Laura Nathan said
I find it hilarious how much serious coverage and attention this Times story got. Did anyone seriously believe that these celebrities were really Twittering?
Lewis DVorkin said
To me, it’s just another tool for celebrity narcissism and those followers who need a life. If they would actually engage with a non-celeb, now that would be interesting. But they only appear to be following their own kind.