Tweeting Out the Phonies!
As you may have noticed, celebs LOVE Twitter. And we love that they love Twitter because we get updates about what they're doing every day (every minute, actually), along with personal photos, funny comments and juicy details about their lives.
So what's not to love about Twitter?
Well, for starters, celebs have to worry about strangers trying to get access to their accounts. Last night, Emma Roberts tweeted, "Whoever is trying to hack my twitter stop!" And another problem with celebrity tweeters are phweeters (phony tweeters).
In the 'Twitterverse,' or 'Twittersphere,' no celeb is safe. Chelsea Staub, Emma Watson, Selena Gomez, Emily Osment and Miley Cyrus all have fake accounts attached to their names. And many of these accounts have thousands of followers! It can be nearly impossible to figure out which accounts are real...and which are the Phweeters.
What does Chelsea thinks about phweeters? "It sucks," she said. "It's a total bummer. I'm flattered when kids want to make fan sites, but when it comes to posing and kind of misleading fans, I always feel so bad."
Remember a few months ago when news broke on Twitter that Emma had decided to go to Yale? Of course, the real truth came out a short time later on her official Website: Emma does not have a Twitter account. And we now know, Emma is going to Brown University.
So how can you tell the real tweeters from the fake ones?
First, go to the celeb's official website. Just like Emma's site said that she didn't have an account, celebs that do tweet will usually post a link to their account.
And now, you can look for "Verified Accounts."
The people who run Twitter (the Twitterers?) have recently stepped up to try and get rid of the phonies. They came up with the "Verified Account." It's a feature that lets everybody know which celebs and other famous peeps posting are legit. Now, you can check to see if an account is real by looking up in the top right corner for the words "Verified Account." If you see 'em, then you know you're getting the scoop from your fave pop star, rather than some Phweeter wannabe. Celebs like Miley, Selena and Lucas Till already have Verified Accounts.
