News Report

Ashton Kutcher challenges CNN to Twitter popularity contest

by: Brandon Griggs

found at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/15/ashton.cnn.twitter.battle/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Summary:

The article talks about Ashton Kutcher who challenged CNN to get to 1million viewers before him. Kutcher says if he wins he will "ding-dong ditch" Ted Turners, CNN founder, house. "I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter," Kutcher says in a video on Qik.com.

As of Wednesday Ashton Kutcher had 896,947 followers, putting him in third place in the number of followers. Britney Spears was in second with about 905,640 followers, and CNN's breaking news account was watched by 937,787 people on the site. As of now no single Twitter account has attracted 1 million followers, according to TwitterCounter and Twitterholic, two sites tracking the most popular Twitter users.

CNN maintains 45 official Twitter accounts, with a total of more than 1.3 million followers. Kutcher is racing the network's breaking-news feed specifically. CNN's breaking-news feed on Twitter was launched three years ago by James Cox. CNN recently acquired the rights to the Twitter account from Cox this week, said Martin, who would not disclose terms of the deal. CNN will hit the 1 million mark by 1 p.m. ET on Friday, based on Purgar's projection, which assumes the rate of new followers for the past 20 minutes will continue, he said by phone Wednesday. Purgar said he will continue to post updates to the data on his Twitter account.

The battle highlights another Twitter trend: celebrities using their accounts to pump up charities and causes, not just their own fame. Kutcher may help charities fight malaria if he beats CNN, and actor Hugh Jackman posted this note on his Twitter account Tuesday, indicating he will donate $100,000 to a fan's favorite charity:

"I will donate 100K to one individual's favorite non profit organization. Of course, you must convince me why by using 140 characters or less."

My Reaction:

It's extremely hilarious to me that CNN is reporting on Twitter. I think this alone is a symbol of how large social networks have become. I personally hate Twitter and think it's pointless, however I do have an account after being hassled by a friend.

It's good that Kutcher and Jackman have decided to use this challenge and Twitter and/or other social networks as a way to raise money for charities and awareness of issues around the world. Though i personally hate Twitter it is a simple way for one person to stay up on current events without having to go to a million different sites or watching tv forever.