Celebrities have become somewhat common-place on Twitter.  Physorg.com reported a while ago that Oprah Winfrey tweets.  As she does with books, the mere mention that she has a Twitter page caused a flood of new sign-ups.  That’s no surprise.  People love celebrities.  They will follow them just about anywhere.  But Twitter is in the unique position to allow we “common folk” to view our favorite celebrities as the very thing they are – real people.  Yup.  Celebrities are people too.  What?  You thought they were demi-gods living on Mt. Olympus?  Nope.  And Twitter is showing us that.

Much to the shagrin, I imagine, of their publicists – who presumably like some level of control when it comes to these matters – the likes of Demi Moore and her husband (who made Twitter history – Twistory? -by getting into a virtual one-upsmanship with CNN), LeVar Burton, and geek-extraordinaire Wil Wheaton all post regularly on Twitter.  They even respond to followers.  Heck, they even folllow some back!

And that’s the biggest impact I think Twitter may have.  It could make celebrity less, well, celebrated.  If we see the proverbial man behind the curtain, will we be so overwhelmed the next time?  Is it the same feeling to see a famous person on the silver screen when you’ve spoken with them (albeit at a distance)?  Or do you go, “Hey, there’s [insert celeb]!  Good for him/her.  He/She deserves it.” 

You might even decide the “real person” is much less than what you thought. What then? How does a publicist do damage control for a Twitter-related mishap? Do they seize control of the account and pretend the account was hacked? (Probably.)

I, for one, enjoy the new all-access pass. From reading updates on the new Iron Man movie to discovering what someone’s favorite restaurant might be, Twitter is my new best friend. And by extension, all those famous people are. But, you know, not in that stalker sort of way.