It’s not just social media mavens or gurus who have high follower counts on Twitter these days. Twitter now has its fair share of celebrity twitterers or tweeple with many, many followers (in fact, the first result from Google when you search for twitterer is none other than actor and writer Wil Wheaton, or @wilw on Twitter). Some are twittering by proxy or via their “social media directors”, but many celebrities take the time out to engage with the public and with their fans by posting tweets themselves.

Some politicians have been using Twitter as part of their election campaigning, e.g. US president-elect @BarackObama (with 151,735 followers and currently following 156,695, although apparently none of these influencers) and vice president-elect @joebiden (following 158 and with 3,969 followers), @JohnMcCain (following 5,801 and with 4,809 followers), and @johnedwards (following 8,865 and with 6,458 followers). There’s also @algore (with 23,158 followers and just following his media channel @current).

TV stars have also embraced Twitter. For example, from the popular science fiction drama Heroes, you can find the actors who play Matt Parkman (Twitter-loving Greg Grunberg or @greggrunberg on Twitter, ranked very highly in the tweetosphere [or is it the twittersphere?!] and who seems to have converted his brother @bradgrunberg to the site); Daphne Millbrook (Brea Grant or @breagrant on Twitter, who introduced Greg to Twitter); and villain Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence XVII who tweets as @dhlawrencexvii). There’s also David Hewlett (@dhewlett), AKA the wonderful Dr. Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis, and his sister @katehewlett (who plays his sister Jeannie).

UK comedians have also taken to Twitter, including @JohnCleese, @stephenfry, and more recently @wossy (Jonathan Ross). You can read the exploits of sportspeople like Irish Olympic silver medallist @kennyegan, basketball player @THE_REAL_SHAQ (Shaquille O’Neill), cyclist @lancearmstrong and UK tennis star @andy_murray. And from the music world, there’s @britneyspears (an account salvaged from a squatter by her social media director), @MCHammer and @DaveJMatthews.

Other famous twitterers include @WardCunningham, the creator of the wiki, Virgin founder @RichardBranson, illusionist @pennjillette, and movie star @LukeWilson.

Less active are actor @WilliamShatner, with one tweet, and director @ThatKevinSmith, although the latter has started posting again in the past few days. One thing is for sure, however: with the momentum that Twitter has gained recently, you can expect to see many more of your favourite celebrities tweeting during 2009!

See also:

• Twitter tips for Jonathan Ross (and others)
• TV celebs worth following on Twitter
• Fake (and real) Twitter celebrities
• Minor celebrities page from the Twitter fan wiki
• How to win friends and Twinfluence people
• 25 celebrity Twitter users
• Celebrities using Twitter