Twitocracy...

As usual I opened my copy of the Guardian G2 this morning and so was I struck by this particular piece on the opening page.

Now, I can't profess to be an expert on Kanye West or any other rap singers for that matter, but I do know a little about Twitter. Essentially some chap has earned 1,6000 followers overnight for asking this West chap about toothpaste. To someone like me who has spent over a year of effort and acerbic wit on Twitter for a return of 3 more followers than people I follow (at time of writing) it's a bit of a kick in the teeth.

The article makes the very valid point that Twitter isn't a democracy. Some people have millions of followers for tweeting things like "Today I got up", while many, many others have far fewer than they deserve. I could reel off a list of dozens of wonderful people I've met through the medium of 140 character thoughts whose wit merits so much more exposure than it gets.

To offer some manner of remedy to this, Twitter is rolling out a new recommendations system whereby on your profile it gives you people 'like' you. I got Guardian TV critic Julia Raeside (among others) and put out a shameless plug to test reaction

Hello. Are you a fan of Guardian TV critic @JNRaeside? If so, then you'll just love me (according to Twitter). #shamelessplugthatwillnotwork

Sadly, the results of this social experiment are yet to appear. So I can either hold out for a bit or just draw the conclusion that the 'you might like' feature is a complete waste of time that doesn't so much open you to prospective followers as simply show you people with similar quality content who are much more popular than you.

It is obvious that celebrity aids one's quest to reach a gargantuan number of computer screens across the world, but I can't help but feel Twitter is very much a largescale popularity contest, with a smaller cult usage to share jokes and make new friends. Many eminently talented comedians have followings that pale in comparison to, say, Justin Bieber or some other expendable, whiny, popular hominin. While I'll stop short of advocating a full-on meritocracy, there should definitely be some sort of handicap system to stop rap-singers/Bieber/general famous bods from taking over completely.

Ahem...