Celebrity twits break down the fourth wall

With the defiant, loud and talkative interaction that our generation practices today — Facebook, iPhones and Blackberrys included — the social media site Twitter fits in just perfectly.

Whether we use Twitter as a cheat sheet to filter through the day’s messy list of top stories (recurring topics like #ObamaNobelPeacePrize or #BalloonBoy will help you out on occasion), or as a means to bring attention to the blasé occurrences in our ordinary lives, digitally connected college students aren’t the only ones getting hooked.

Like the craze of a new Dolce handbag or the buzz around the latest flash diet, Hollywood celebrity Twitters are now a trend. With thousands to millions of Twitter followers at their disposal, famous names have already seen the lucrative marketing opportunities — as well as the image-enhancing benefits — of jumping onto the micro-blogging bandwagon.

But have they realized the repercussions?

With celebrities freely and carelessly Tweeting up a storm — not always with the daily handling and prying eyes of their publicists — they are willfully breaking down a dimension of privacy many an entourage has worked so hard to build up. It has always been this barrier between elusive celebrities and their fan bases that has defined the chasm between Hollywood and the general public.

Through celebrity Tweeting, the fall of this privacy wall, brick by brick, opens up engaged observers to a host of private matters instantly made public. Celebrity fights, friendships and budding relationships between the stars can easily be found on Twitter. It’s all there — captured in a concise 140 characters or less.

Rare, personal glances into the life of reality star Kim Kardashian via Twitter, for instance, force our fixation on popular culture and keep us more tightly fastened to our personal devices. Let’s face it, any of us who are following Kardashian on Twitter don’t actually read her posts but rather wait patiently for one of her infamously revealing TwitPics (one of the site’s many Twabbreviations, this one for a picture update).

As slaves to the emerging media, how do these constantly updating e-relationships reflect our own personalities?

If you follow reality TV villain and USC alumnus Spencer Pratt as he meticulously Tweets about his infallible journey atop the ranks of Hollywood, you are probably a narcissist yourself, or perhaps equally fascinated with the unique self-absorption dynamic which Twitter promotes.

Amid the frequent typos and unexpected use of archaic online jargon (his favorite is “lol”), Twitter followers of The Real Shaq look to the basketball star for a unique blend of life mantras instilling “Shaqness” complemented with entertaining jokes with a few references to his sport (if you count his mention about attending a LeBron James party). Pretend basketball fans would enjoy themselves.

Like a true artist, singer John Mayer shares a pithy yet slightly delusional patter with his Twitter followers, providing socially conscious words of wisdom sometimes too far-fetched for normal people to understand.

Not surprisingly, lovers of intricate food descriptions and fans of smiling with their eyes follow talk show host Tyra Banks. Proud Twitter followers of President Barack Obama believe they are doing their part in civic participation. And those who claim to be diehard Trojan fans without following USC football coach Pete Carroll’s Twitter should be ashamed.

The publicity potential for celebrity Tweets is obvious. It’s virtually cost-free and has the ability to reach huge audiences with a single click. Though this is all true, is it safe for celebrities to be deviling into a networking tool so closely linked with their fans?

With decades of Hollywood history perpetuating an “us and them” degree of separation, Twitter opens the possibility to real interaction between you and your favorite star. Spooky.

This spoils the mystery and the intrigue left surrounding a celebrity’s appeal. Without any gatekeeper to censor or block information from spreading, there are likely to be some serious problems.

With Twitter, celebrities can trash their employers, naïvely spill sensitive industry information to the public or say something stupid and destroy their reputations in seconds.

Last summer, fights between TV reality show judge Paula Abdul and producers of the show American Idol became the backstory loudly projected across the micro-blogosphere. To display her disappointment and win public support, Abdul used Twitter to announce that she would not be returning to American Idol, before notifying lawyers and handlers of her contract.

Following Abdul’s lead, tons of other celebrities have used the tool to quit jobs, vent their anger and publicly call out their enemies. Essentially, Twitter allows traditionally tight-lipped celebrities to rebelliously speak the truth.

But as stars no longer hold back — forever changing the paradigm of celebrity — maybe the public won’t be able to handle it.

Christopher Agutos is a junior majoring in public relations. His column, “Pop Life,” runs Tuesdays.