Ashton Kutcher has turned Twitter into:

1. The new star-power scoreboard. Kutcher's race against CNN Breaking News to 1 million followers is just the beginning. From here on out, expect Twitter follower count to be a definitive sign of someone’s cultural cachet. Will that change the content much? Probably not, but publicists and agents are going to be working Twitter addresses into almost every sentence that comes out of their mouths.
 
2. A major source of charitable donations. I was glad to see Kutcher and CNN donating 10,000 mosquito nets to Malaria No More as part of the race to 1 million followers. But I’m a bit leery of other instances of celebrity generosity — namely Hugh Jackman’s challenge to cut a $100,000 check to a nonprofit that can “convince me why using 140 characters or less.” The line between offering support and yelling “Dance, monkey!” is a little too blurred for my comfort level.
 
3.The new place to "slum it." For the same reason rock stars like playing surprise gigs at small venues and hip hop moguls like to make cameos on the club scene, celebs seem to enjoy palling around with the masses on Twitter, though they obviously can't really keep up with all their hundreds of thousands of followers. That said, they tend to still favor talking to each other (when in doubt, take a look at who celebs follow -- usually it's just other stars). But even when they're chatting among themselves, the results can be pretty entertaining.

4. A place to redeem your reputation. I have to admit, I have a newfound respect for Kutcher. Until this week, I knew little more than the persona conveyed by his movies and US Weekly. Now I've seen his entrepreneurial, competitive and philanthropic sides. If he can impress me a few more hundred times, I might even consider renting "What Happens in Vegas."

Comments

[punit kumar]

I am in search of a person/ charity organisation who can sponsor a child for higher studies.

[dekonstructor]

I love the idea of celebrity slumming. I always wonder what kind of famous people are behind reddit, digg, myspace, facebook, or twitter. You never know, that's what makes the internet so interesting.

[Sonny Gill]

You make a great point in no. 3 - re: look at who celebrities are following.

Now, on a much smaller scale, take a look at who I or other social media/pr folks are following. Isn't it a bit of the same (though different levels)? I can say probably 98% of my community is within the industry that is of interest to me - why hold it against celebs if they do the same?