Twitter - Seeking Clarity From This Helpful Community

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

What-Ho!  Oh, wise and learned community -- at least those amongst the community who use Twitter -- I bring you a question:  In a previous comment to one of this community's posts, I asked about Twitter.  I just want to know how it works - from those who actually use it.  Does it spam your cellphone?  Your email?  Do you choose when to access what's going on with your feed?  It looks like you can update from your browser on your pc, is that so? 

I'm particularly interested in following Stephen Fry and Eddie Izzard, who have both been mentioned. 
Also, I know about Stephen Fry, but how do you know it's Eddie Izzard -- considering I saw that folks have outed whomever took the handle HughLaurie as an imposter?

If anyone wants to take the time to fill me in a bit, I'd be ever so grateful. 
Please and thank you!

Comments

[mrowrr.livejournal.com]

Eddie has tweeted many times reassuring us that it is, in fact, him. he even took a photo of himself on his cell phone and uploaded it as proof. lol. and from reading his tweets, i can believe it's really him.

the main reason i knew Hugh's was a fake was that it was very "fan-ish" in its contents. that, and we all know Hugh would never get a twitter. it's just so unlike him to do so.

there are options you can check/uncheck for receiving/sending tweets on your phone. there's also a nifty little program called Tweet Deck that you can download onto your computer that sorts tweets by groups you make, or by the individual. it's really only a help if you follow a lot of people, though. if you're just planning on following a few, it probably isn't necessary. there are also apps you can dl for your phone, but i think it's only helpful if you have an iphone or blackberry. i have neither, so i don't ever tweet via phone.

hope i was able to answer some of your questions... :)

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

Yes! Very helpful! That gives me much more clarity on the subject!
Thank you SO much!

Eddie Izzard

[dewitte.livejournal.com]

He also sent out a notice via his web site announcing his twitter account, which is how I even knew about it. If I hadn't received that, I might have thought it wasn't him.

Re: Eddie Izzard

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

Well cool! That's nice to know!

[chippers87.livejournal.com]

Let me try to answer as much as I can. Twitter, in its most basic form, is on your internet browser: http://www.twitter.com . From there you can update and read others' updates. I can't remember if I had to adjust settings for this, but the only time I get email from Twitter is when I'm sent a direct message. There are various twitter applications. Many are for one's phone -- yes, it can get spam-alicious at times, but I think you can pick and choose whom to follow on your phone. On my computer, I use an app called TweetDeck. It separates out my general feed, replies, and direct messages as I see fit.

When it comes to the fake celebrities on Twitter, really, you have to use your best judgment. If it doesn't seem real, it's probably not. If it does, then there's a good chance that it is.

I hope this helped somewhat!

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

*nods* Gotcha! I've heard folks mention TweetDeck before. Thank you!

I tend to assume that 'celebrities' are less likely to have the time to mess with something like Twitter, so I'd tend to expect that anyone claiming to be one probably isn't. It's good to know that Stephen Fry is the real article, as with Eddie Izzard. I agree, I can't see Hugh Laurie being the sort.

[chippers87.livejournal.com]

That's my general assumption, too, although there are some real live ones on there: Omar Epps, Kal Penn, Shaquille O'Neal, most of the House writers (they're celebrities in my world), Tina Fey, William Shatner, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, etc.

[juliacarmen.livejournal.com]

Going OT: Most of the House writers I've seen have protected Twitters. Do they mind if you try to follow them?

Also, I wish there was a way I could read about people meeting/seeing Hugh and reporting on Twitter. But it's impossible to sort those posts from tweets like "Hugh Laurie excellent in House last night."
Is there anyone on House (or Band from TV) who occasionally drops a line about Hugh? Epps and Penn don't, from what I can see...
It would be nice to know how he's doing, since he doesn't twitter and interviews are few and far between...

Ok, really, I'm just nosy :-p

[chippers87.livejournal.com]

Two names: Sara Hess and Doris Egan. I also follow Russel Friend, but I don't remember if he's locked now. For a few of them, I was kind of grandfathered in when they locked their profiles. For the other writers, look at the number of people following them. If it's a really, really small number, then they'll most likely not let you follow them. But again, Sara and Doris are your best bets.

Sara is by far the most entertaining of the twittering writers, and she does occasionally mention Hugh, usually referring to him as "#1." Sara and Doris both talk about Robert Sean Leonard a fair amount, which is really fun.

[juliacarmen.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thank you!

[random-c.livejournal.com]

I have a G1 phone, and have an app which will let me send tweets, look at and respond to my twitter friends just as on the computer, and also downloads new ones every so often and bungs them in my alerts. This bit can be turned off. I follow Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jonathan Ross, Mitch Benn, Eddie Izzard and Phil Jupitus and a bunch of people I know, as well as a friend-of-a-friend journalist. Most of them also follow me, but I don't think any of the celebs do. I also have an F1 information/race commentary feed on there. Jonathan Ross - known as Wossy - is usually fairly useful for telling you if a celeb is genuine. Fry has been posting some lovely pictures from his travels recently.
I found that if I don't keep my tweets locked, I get followed by a lot of individual spammers for no particular reason and also companies that found something relevant to them in my tweets, such as a local tea company, a classical music seller and a sewing machine manufacturer.
All the Top Gear chaps have been impersonated, mostly as satire, though RealJamesMay was apparently set up to point out that Valebrity - a site which is meant to tell you if celebs on twitter, facebook etc, are real - was rather fallible. It posted a 'shopped photo of James which the site took as proof. As soon as it had validated him, he came out as not real and everything posted since has been taking the piss. It mostly did quite well but made a few mistakes before that, such as getting the gender of May's agent wrong and claiming to have been heading for the BBC offices with Hammond when Hammond was in New Zealand.

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

Must be odd wondering why someone like those folks you mentioned would be following you.
And as to fake twitter peeps - ack. Glad the doof got outed.
I don't think I'll be doing any Twittering much on my phone - I have a VERY basic one, like, y'know, one step up from two cans and a string?