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Ashton Kutcher, the poster child for Silicon Valley in Hollywood has quit Twitter. The decision comes after he posted what became a highly controversial tweet upon discovering that Penn State Coach Joe Paterno had been fired. The account will now be managed by his production company, Katalyst.
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Many have taken to blogs and their social networks to either bash Kutcher for his ignorant remarks or empathize with his honest mistake. While the digerati who have been following him over the years understand him distancing himself from his account, many seem disappointed. Wired.com’s Lewis Wallace posted, “Ashton Kutcher, Don’t Be A Twitter Quitter!, while Mashable’s Lance Ulanoff emphasized why ditching the social network would be a mistake:
“In other words, from now on, you @APLUSK followers will never know if it’s Ashton tweeting or a Twitter account handler. There’s also a chance that all future tweets be run through a “PC” (Politically Correct” filter). This is a shame. The best accounts on Twitter, and I think Ashton’s has been one of them, are those that are managed by the account holders. Obviously, there are situations where the Twitter account is for a brand or product and it’s impossible to know who is tweeting what. However, when the account is for a celebrity or other notable person, there’s a certain excitement and entertainment value in knowing that they really thought and said that tweet.”
There’s no doubt that the media revolution we’ve seen over the past few years has come because of celebrities using these tools to cut out the middle man and connect directly with their fans and media. With someone like Kutcher–who made tech so accessible to the mainstream world– quitting, hopefully it won’t trigger a bigger Hollywood trend.
