Celebrities and World Leaders Make Out -> On Twitter

Lately, it seems that every few days I hear some chatter of yet another celebrity presence on one of the core social networks. Obama on Flickr, Britney Spears on Twitter, Elvis on Second Life… Kidding about Elvis. You may have heard the odd rumor a few months ago that the Dalai Lama was on Twitter though. It turned out to be a fake Twitter account. It’s too bad I would have followed him for sure. Why not? Millions of people follow him already without a social net. The Vatican is actually on YouTube, when I caught wind of that I immediately checked in with CNN to make sure it wasn’t raining fire anywhere. Most recently, David Lynch proved during a live taped broadcast that he was indeed actually on Twitter (you can follow him from his link below). Side note: I love how in the video above he calls it “the Twitter page”, he just seems so disconnected. He may have no idea what Twitter actually is or does, but his 22 year old intern insists he be there because Obama is.

Many of us who use Twitter, also post videos on Youtube, pics on Flickr and frequently update a status on Facebook/Myspace. When asked the question “why do we do all this?” many of us would have a tough time answering. To me, the urge to take part of Social Media reminds me of the time (about 10 – 15+ years ago) when my friends were nagging me about getting my first cell phone. I did not feel the need to own one at the time. I certainly didn’t want to pay for it, but now, only a few short years later I don’t know what I would do without one. In fact my cell phone has replaced my work and home landlines. In the next 3 to 5 years we may be Tweeting in replace of cell phone calls. Oh, wait… We already do. It’s called texting. Forgot. Regardless, Twitter’s uses are growing, check out this remote Twitter powered thermostat invention. More and more influential people are tweeting everyday. For the first time we can check in daily on our favorite celebritie’s thoughts and ideas about the world. Twitter is also a great tool for taking the pulse of a massive population of influencers and innovators.

After the jump is a contact list of celebrities that are currently active Twitter users (source -> Mashable):

Musicians on Twitter:

Brett Gurewitz – Guitarist for the band Bad Religion, songwriter and record producer. Also owns Epitaph Records.

Britney Spears – With the launch of her new album, Ms. Spears is embracing the Internet with a redesigned website and the launch of a Twitter account. You can read more about this in Searching for the Real Britney in ‘therealbritney’ here on Mashable.

DaveJMatthews – Best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band, Dave Matthews is a Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. He updates fairly regularly.

Jonathan Coulton – Well known on the Internet for self-promotion and writing songs with geek themes.

MC Hammer – Musician, pastor, rising Internet celeb – it seems MC Hammer pops up everywhere.

Patrick Wilson of Weezer – The drummer from the band Weezer posts infrequent updates to his account.

Sara Bareilles – Sara Bareilles is a singer-songwriter and pianist that posts updates from her tour and elsewhere.

Politicians on Twitter:

Barack Obama – Senator from Illinois and Democratic presidential candidate.

Chuck Grassley – Republican senator from Iowa.

Hillary Clinton – Senator from New York, former presidential candidate for the Democratic party and the former First Lady.

James DeMint – Republican senator from South Carolina.

James Inhofe – Republican senator from Oklahoma.

Joe Biden – Senator from Delaware and the current Democratic candidate for vice president.

John McCain – Senator from Arizona and the Republican Presidential Candidate.

Actors on Twitter:

Brea Grant – Plays Daphne, the super speedster, on Heroes.

David Hewlett – Actor best known for his role as Dr. Rodney McKay on Stargate Atlantis.

Janina Gavankar – Played Papi on The L Word. Also appeared in both Barbershop movies.

Kate Hewlett – Sister of David Hewlett. She also played his sister on Stargate Atlantis.

Stephen Fry – Well known British actor, comedian and narrator.

Wil Wheaton – Best known for the role of Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: the Next Generation, Mr. Wheaton has become well known for his passion for all things tech.

William Shatner – This well-known actor has only posted one update as of this writing. Seeing as he has a YouTube account that is being updated frequently, he may return.

Writers on Twitter:

Diablo Cody – Ms. Cody won an Oscar for her film Juno, and has become a popular, though sporadic, poster on Twitter.

David Lynch – Filmmaker. Born Missoula, MT. Eagle Scout.

James Gunn – Writer, director, actor, musician, James Gunn is a jack-of-all-trades and a prolific Twitter user.

Warren Ellis – Popular comic book writer of series such as Transmetropolitan.

Tech Celebs on Twitter:

John C. Dvorak – A columnist writing about technology since the 1980s.

Leo Laporte – Leo Laporte has been a long time commenter on technology issues and host of numerous TV shows and podcasts.

Major Nelson, Xbox Live Director of Programming – Major Nelson is the gamertag of Larry Hryb, the director of programming over at Xbox Live. He gives out codes and other information on his account.

Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade – One of the authors of the popular webcomic, Penny Arcade.

Robert Scoble – Needing no real introduction, Robert Scoble is one of the best known tech bloggers on the Web.

Scott Kurtz – Creator of the popular Web comic, Player vs Player.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos – Zappos is everywhere nowadays, even at the bottom of shoe trays at airport security, so it only makes sense they would also pop up on the most popular microblogging service.