Quintessentially British funny man Stephen Fry can be credited with giving new networking site Twitter an intellectual edge. As one of the first to latch on to tweeting, one can expect cerebral musings should you choose to ‘follow’ Mr Fry. Twitter is a micro-blogging website that allows users to post short 140-word snippets. The blog style of Twitter suggests its motives are a little more high-brow and perhaps anonymous as you will not look shady if you use an elusive blog name and not post hundreds of pictures. However there is something a little self righteous about posting 140 words that you consider significant enough for people to read. It is the kind of thing I can imagine will lead to one man’s tweeting in Taiwan instigating huge debates about the meaning of life. Inevitably, there are those who completely ignore the opportunity for preachy provocative blurbs and write light-hearted, flippant comments. Perhaps the opportunity for self promotion with minimum effort is the reason why so many celebrities have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.

Amongst Jonathan Ross, John Cleese, Britney Spears and Lily Allen is none other than the US President elect whose typical tweets include “We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks.”

Jonathan Ross uses Twitter to condemn the media saying “No one worth knowing pays any attention to the British tabloids or the braying donkeys that write for them.” And Britney Spears’ blogs are largely messages of self-esteem affirming nuggets written by her entourage who hold on to every positive piece of press, such as “Congrats on the #1 Album Britney!! We're all so happy for your here at Team Britney!” and “Our bday party insider says: Britney looked beautiful in a black dress and a soft up-do.”