Charlie Sheen Busts Onto Twitter; Already Past 1M Followers
Charlie Sheen has said that his multiple appearances on various talk shows like "The Today Show," "20/20" and "Piers Morgan Tonight" have all been about spreading the "truth." What better way, however, to spread it, than via Twitter.
In fact, the Charlie Sheen Twitter account, which was created on March 1st, already has over 1.2M followers, in less than two days. His initial set of those he followed was a short list of 10 people, including porn star Bree Olsen, Piers Morgan (who seemed to soft pedal questions to Sheen on Monday night when he interviewed Sheen on CNN), Howard Stern, Alyssa Milano, and a few more. He's currently up to 25 people. Whether or not Sheen's rise to over 1.2M followers is a record for speed is unknown. However, it certainly was quick. The account (@charliesheen) is verified, as well.
How did Sheen get verified? In general, Twitter is out of the verification business. In addition, Sheen reported had his Twitter account activated in just a few hours. How did that happen?
According to AdAge, Sheen's management got in touch with Ad.ly in the morning on March 1, and after eliminating the cybersquatter at @charliesheen, the account was up and ready to go (and verified) by 12 PM. Ad.ly CEO Arnie Gullov-Singh said:
He reportedly wanted to use Twitter to speak directly to his fans, and give them his side of the story in the "Two and a Half Men" bruhaha. His first Tweet included the image below (if you don't know, that's Bree Olsen) and said (he calls himself an unemployed winner in his Twitter bio):
In fact, the Charlie Sheen Twitter account, which was created on March 1st, already has over 1.2M followers, in less than two days. His initial set of those he followed was a short list of 10 people, including porn star Bree Olsen, Piers Morgan (who seemed to soft pedal questions to Sheen on Monday night when he interviewed Sheen on CNN), Howard Stern, Alyssa Milano, and a few more. He's currently up to 25 people. Whether or not Sheen's rise to over 1.2M followers is a record for speed is unknown. However, it certainly was quick. The account (@charliesheen) is verified, as well.
How did Sheen get verified? In general, Twitter is out of the verification business. In addition, Sheen reported had his Twitter account activated in just a few hours. How did that happen?
According to AdAge, Sheen's management got in touch with Ad.ly in the morning on March 1, and after eliminating the cybersquatter at @charliesheen, the account was up and ready to go (and verified) by 12 PM. Ad.ly CEO Arnie Gullov-Singh said:
We know a bunch of people at Twitter, and we reached out to them and told them that probably the biggest name in media right now wants to be on your platform and, of course, they were all right with it. But you're right that Twitter doesn't verify, but they make exceptions. The thing about verification in general is that Twitter was getting overwhelmed with requests to be verified -- they don't have a team for this. Same thing at Facebook.Ad.ly's founder, Sean Rad, spoke to TechCrunch and said that in addition to setting up the account, they gave Sheen tips on tweeting, @reply and what a hashtag is.
He reportedly wanted to use Twitter to speak directly to his fans, and give them his side of the story in the "Two and a Half Men" bruhaha. His first Tweet included the image below (if you don't know, that's Bree Olsen) and said (he calls himself an unemployed winner in his Twitter bio):
Winning..! Choose your Vice... #winning #chooseyourvice http://twitpic.com/455ly9
