Twitter De-stablizing Celebrity Presence

For those of us who are heavy Twitter users, we can remember the day when we signed up for an account and were offered suggestions of people to follow. Typically that list featured heavy hitter news agencies, a number of celebrities of varying backgrounds, and perhaps some large tech companies or sites. Chances are a few of these interested us, but for the vast majority it meant very little. Online networking has transcended more into a place for relevant conversation with people we feel we have common bonds with, rather than just a chat forum of open ended conversations. While others may comment in the public stream or friends us based on who we have friended, more of us are looking for real conversations as opposed to connecting with the likes of Ashton Kutcher who more than likely does not respond to his 1 million plus fans.

So you can imagine it was interesting when I read an article on CNN from founder of Mashable, Pete Cashmore, on this very topic. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Pete at a variety of tech events, and a celebrity in his own right, is naturally a down to earth guy. Nevertheless, the article he wrote discusses how Twitter has altered the focus on specific celebrities and news agencies in their suggestion methods and now offers up categorized lists based on general interests.

Does this work any better?

Pete Cashmore seems to think it’s a step in the right direction. I’m inclined to agree, but I still feel like the suggestions are not people I would communicate with on a regular basis. More than likely I’m going to seek out local thought leaders and conversation instigators. Why should third party developers be the ones I turn to for niche suggestions, I think Twitter could be of great service if they did that from the start. Many new Twitter users are not typically well versed in the world of social networking, so third party developers are foreign to them. They make not seek out the latest Twi-(put your own ending, everyone else is) that can help them find specific people. Their only base of reference will be the suggestion lists.

So yes it’s a good first step, but perhaps more can be done. Pete Cashmore states that celebrities might see their follower numbers start to slow down due to this categorizing done by Twitter, and perhaps they will. Ultimately if people want to follow celebrities they will seek them out anyways. Personally, as much as I love celebrities, I’m looking to connect with real people that I can carry real conversations with.

What are your thoughts?