Generation Fry
Thursday, October 9th, 2008 by Rob Brown
A few weeks ago I wrote about the rise of the Twitterati; celebrity micro-bloggers using Twitter to engage with their fans. The latest addition to the ranks is Stephen Fry and his arrival may just be the trigger to that brings Twitter into the mainstream. The reason I say that, is the sheer speed at which his Twitter following is growing. His first micro-post appeared at lunchtime today and within three hours he had amassed over a thousand followers.
Whilst Stephen Fry may not be Generation Y like his fellow Twitterer Andy Murray, he has a long history of engagement with the web. Stephen was using e-mail in the early nineties before most people knew what it was and his podcasts or Podgrams as they are called in Fryberspace (ouch…sorry!) are amongst the most popular on the web.
Fry is using Twitter as part of the the publicity for his new series ‘Stephen Fry in America’ which starts on Sunday (October 12th) on BBC1 at 9pm. It’s genuine stuff and he will be posting as he travels across the continent in a black cab, visiting all 50 states.
Twitter isn’t just publicity for the series it provides another dimension to Fry’s travelogue adding value to the TV series and providing backstage snippets. Stephen Fry is a big name and he is giving us a real reason to follow. He is also up to speed with Twitter etiquette and is following people back. I can’t deny there is a frisson of pleasure that comes with the e-mail that says “Stephen Fry is now following you on Twitter!”.
