“Up until today, I have posted virtually every one of my tweets on my own, but clearly the platform has become too big to be managed by a single individual.” – aplusk.posterous.com
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did I read that right? One person can’t keep up with their own Twitter account?
Apparently that’s Ashton Kutcher’s new opinion based on the fact that he got panned for what E! described as an “ill-considered pro-Joe Paterno tweet.” So, just because he gets bad reactions to one tweet he’s going to turn over his twitter account to his PR team? Seems a bit over-reactive to me.
Surely he can’t think he’s the only one who’s tweeted something they regretted. I’ve done it myself, albeit to a much smaller audience. The fact is, many have gone before him (James Andrews). Some have had a hard recovery, but most been able to overcome, a few even capitalize (Red Cross), on mistakes.
“A collection of over 8 million followers is not to be taken for granted. I feel responsible to deliver informed opinions and not spread gossip or rumors through my twitter feed.” – aplusk.posterous.com
Now that I can agree with, although I have to suspect due to the continued existence of celebrity rags at the grocery checkout, a great many people who follow someone like Ashton are actually hoping for a bit of that gossip.
To me, the strength of twitter has always been the ability to eliminate barriers and connect with people directly. Granted, someone with eight million followers is going to have a hard time going 1×1 with them all, but at least he was trying.
Not a big follower of celebrities on Twitter, I did still love the way he, Demi and other members of their family and close friends embraced the platform and seemed to understand that same strength I see. But, now that appears to be lost.
“While I feel that running this feed myself gives me a closer relationship to my friends and fans I’ve come to realize that it has grown into more than a fun tool to communicate with people. While I will continue to express myself through @Aplusk, I’m going to turn the management of the feed over to my team at Katalyst as a secondary editorial measure, to ensure the quality of its content. My sincere apologies to anyone who I offended. It was a mistake that will not happen again.” – aplusk.posterous.com
Whether or not a fan or a follower, I still feel this is a loss. Don’t run away Ashton. I mean, it’s not like you can’t say or do something stupid somewhere else (Rolling Stone, Oprah’s couch). Keep twitter real.
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