JONATHAN CHAIT MAY 10, 2010
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One of the creepier aspects of Twitter is the way you accumulate "followers." To be clear, I'm not really on Twitter. Last year, I read Emily Bazelon's article about how somebody was impersonating her on Twitter. I signed in, just to make sure nobody was doing this to me, only to discover that this meant I have officially joined Twitter. Ever since, I've been receiving regular messages about how many "followers" I've been accumulating. My only message on Twitter was an instruction to my "followers" to go away because I wasn't planning to tweet anything:
Unsurprisingly, I managed to bungle it and the message never went out.
Anyway, one thing I've wondered about twitter is this business of attracting "followers." It strikes me as fairly authoritarian in spirit. What sort of personality type gets excited at the prospect of attracting "followers"?
The answer, it turns out, is: authoritarians. Here's a message from the Embassy of Venezuela:
President Chavez Becomes Most Followed Venezuelan on Twitter
Use of Social Network Highlights Expansion of Internet in Venezuela
Just two weeks after joining Twitter, President Hugo Chavez has become Venezuela’s most followed user of the online social network, with over 265,000 followers as of Monday, May 10. He is also amongst the only heads of state that is using the network to directly engage with followers, both in Venezuela and around the world.
President Chavez joined Twitter on April 28, and within 12 hours had gained more than 45,000 followers. Since then, his Twitter accounthas gained followers at a rate sometimes exceeding 1,000 per hour. It is estimated that within the first month of use, President Chavez will gain one million followers.
9 comments
"I signed in, just to make sure nobody was doing this to me, only to discover that this meant I has officially joined Twitter." You has? Well, has a cheezburger on me.
- Geoff G
May 10, 2010 at 5:54pm
When is Marty getting on The Twitter? He has a pre-packaged number of followers ready to join him there -- in the Army's new Afghanistan parlance, "Followers in a Box".
- wildboy
May 10, 2010 at 6:03pm
I couldn't agree more, Jonathan. Shamelessly self-promoting one's own Twitter account is the basest form of narcissism. For more such insights and witticisms, please follow www.twitter.com/andydaglas
- adaglas
May 10, 2010 at 6:13pm
so what does that make ashton kutcher and demi moore? are they our generations adolph and eva?
- lisap1999
May 10, 2010 at 6:32pm
OK, I got a good chuckle out of that.
- Fishpeddler
May 10, 2010 at 6:32pm
er, andy's post that is (I just realized that it could appear that I was pulling a Rainman and making a comment on something from a half-hour ago).
- Fishpeddler
May 10, 2010 at 6:34pm
OK, so someone help me with the Chavez administration's math: First 1/2 day, 45000 followers join, a rate of 90k/day First 14 days, 265000 people started following him, a rate of ~19k/day That leads them to predict a million people will follow him after 30 days - an average rate of 33k a day..? Huh? Why's it supposed to start accelerating?
- Simon Greenwood
May 10, 2010 at 6:39pm
They didn't do any math, they just figured 1 million in a month sounded good suitably impressive. If his pace slows down, he can just require all government employees to sign up for twitter and follow him.
- vips73
May 10, 2010 at 7:03pm
That's despotism for you. I'm just glad I live in a country where any kid can grow up to be the most followed Venezuelan on Twitter.
- tgorman
May 10, 2010 at 7:14pm