WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 , 2 0 0 9 PAGE 1 3 Straight from the horse’s mouth. Almost Celebrities have long used ghostwriters for autobiographies and other acts of self-aggrandizement. Now they are letting them loose on social networking sites like Twitter BY NOAM COHEN NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, NEW YORK he rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars idea of having someone else write continual who have recently embraced Twitter as a updates of one’s daily life seems slightly absurd. T way to reach fans who crave near-continuous The basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, for access to his life and thoughts. On March 1, he example, is a prolific Twitterer on his account shared this insight with the more than 200,000 — The Real Shaq — where he shares personal people who follow him: “My ambition leads me news, jokes and occasional trash talking against through a tunnel that never ends.” opponents with nearly 430,000 followers. Those were 50 Cent’s words, but it was “If I am going to speak, it will come from me,” not exactly him tweeting. Rather, it was Chris he said, noting that the technology allows him to Romero, known as Broadway, the director of the bypass the media to speak directly to the fans. rapper’s Web empire who typed in those words As for the temptation to rely on a team to after reading them in an interview. supply his words, he said: “It’s 140 characters. It’s “He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Romero said so few characters. If you need a ghost writer for of 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, that, I feel sorry for you.” “but the energy of it is all him.” Athletes seem to be purists. Lance Armstrong, In its short history, Twitter — a microblogging only hours after breaking his right collarbone, tool which uses 140-character bursts — has tweeted about it, using his left hand. Charlie become an important marketing tool for Villanueva, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising tweeted at half-time from the locker room on a level of intimacy never before approached March 15 about how “I gotta step up.” (His coach, online, as well as giving the public the ability to Scott Skiles, was not pleased with his diversion, speak directly to people and institutions once but the Bucks did win.) comfortably on a pedestal. But for politicians like Paul, who sought the But someone has to do all that writing, even 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Twitter if it each entry is barely a sentence long. In many is an organizing tool rather than a glimpse behind cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned the curtain. “During the presidential campaign,” to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will said Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign manager, “we — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and assigned a staffer to each social network site. turns, often in the star’s own voice. Each was used to generate the same message as Because Twitter is seen as an intimate a way to amplify the message and drive people link between celebrities and their fans, many back to our site.” performers are not willing to divulge the He said that in a rare few cases, however, help they get putting their thoughts down in supporters would read in more meaning to the cyberspace. Britney Spears recently advertised online relationship than was there. “On a bunch for someone to, among other things, help create of social-networking sites, we would get some content for Twitter and Facebook. sincere written notes, that would say ‘thank you Kanye West recently explained to New York for letting me be your friend,’” he recalled. magazine that he’s hired two people to update his Many online commentators are appalled at blog. “It’s just like how a designer would work,” the practice of enlisting ghost-Twitterers, but he said. It is not only celebrities who are forced to Joseph Nejman, a former consultant to Britney look to a team to produce real-time commentary Spears who helped conceive her Web strategy, on daily activities; said there was a more US politicians like than a whiff of hypocrisy Representative Ron Paul among critics. have had staffers assigned “It’s OK to tweet to create Twitter posts for a brand,” he said, and Facebook personas. noting how common it Candidate Barack Obama, is for companies to have as well as President Twitter accounts, “but Obama, has a social- not OK for a celebrity. networking team to keep But the truth is, they are his Twitter feed tweeting. a brand. What they are to The famous, of the public is not always course, have long what they are behind the used ghostwriters for curtain. If the manager autobiographies and knows that better than other acts of self- the star, then they should aggrandizement. But the do it.” Above: Twitter founders Biz Stone, left, and Evan Williams pose for a photo at their office in San Francisco. Right: Britney Spears needs a little help. PHOTOS: AP AND BLOOMBERG [ SCIENCE ] Pandemonium breaks out at Taipei Zoo Zookeepers became suspicious of the resident giant pandas’ true pedigree after Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan began acting strangely BY STAFF ReporTer screamed and parents became irate.” December as a gift from the Chinese Taiwan-China relations were dealt a Her suspicions were confirmed government. The pair were first offered severe setback yesterday when it was yesterday when she noticed that the three years ago, but were rejected by found that Taipei Zoo’s “pandas” are not animals’ new hair growth was discolored. then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). what they seem. “Their roots began to show,” she said. After the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Zookeepers discovered at feeding A zookeeper who asked to be candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) won the time yesterday that the two pandas are identified only by his nickname A-diung presidential election last May, the pandas in fact Wenzhou brown forest bears that (阿忠) because he was not authorized were accepted, though critics continue had been dyed to create the panda’s to speak with the media said he and his to decry what they see as an attempt distinctive black-and-white appearance. coworkers had long had their doubts, but by Beijing to bribe Taiwanese with Above: Tuan Tuan, right, and Yuan Yuan caught in The Taipei Zoo’s head of ursidae were discouraged from ����������������publicly �������voicing cute, cuddly furballs in lieu of a more flagrante delicto on CCTV. ex-procyonidae care, Connie Liu (劉長 their concerns by management. meaningful gesture of goodwill such Right: Wild behavior. PHOTOS: TAIPEI TIMES 春), said she became suspicious when “Whenever the moaning from the as removing some of the 1,500 missiles the pandas, Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan panda enclosure gets too loud we gotta China has pointed at Taiwan. that the scandal would affect sales of in Taiwan are very upset. We wish to added melamine to wheat gluten that Yuan (圓圓), began to spend almost all of go in there and hose ’em down with cold Even the pandas’ most diehard her stuffed panda toys, panda T-shirts, assure them that we have taken steps was used to make pet food. their waking hours having sex. Pandas water,” he said. “After a while, parts of supporters were brokenhearted panda pens and notepads, remote- to address their concerns. We hope that The reports said blood samples have are notorious for their low libidos, the animals’ black-and-white patches yesterday. Some angrily compared the controlled pandas on wheels, caps with our Taiwanese friends enjoy the gift of been collected from the bears and sent to which make them difficult to breed in started to turn brown.” subterfuge to last year’s contaminated panda ears on top, panda fans, panda two extremely rare Wenzhou brown a lab at Academia Sinica where they are captivity. He said he alerted senior zoo staff milk scandal, when melamine that flashlights, panda mugs, panda eyeglass forest bears,” Qin said. to be tested for harmful adulterants. “Let’s just say Tuan Tuan and Yuan who dismissed his concerns. had been added to watered-down milk cases, panda face masks, panda slippers, Local media reported yesterday that, Substances to be tested for include Yuan would tuan yuan at every chance,” “They told me pandas at the zoo sickened 300,000 victims across China panda wallets and panda purses. in December, traces of melamine were glycol, a chemical similar to antifreeze said Liu, referring to the combination in Washington, DC, get lethargic and and led to a recall of diary products in “China certainly owes us an apology,” found in Chinese bamboo that had been which in 2007 was found in Chinese of the panda’s names, which means “to sometimes lie in their own feces because countries including Taiwan. said Chang. shipped to Taipei to feed Yuan Yuan and exports of cough syrup; chloramphenicol, reunite” in Mandarin. “They would do it they can’t tolerate hot weather, so it “First the milk scandal and now this. In a statement released yesterday Tuan Tuan when the pair were rejecting a powerful antibiotic that has been doggy-style and every armchair zoologist didn’t surprise them at all that their fur What are we going to hear next?” said evening, Chinese foreign ministry Taiwanese bamboo and had each lost 3kg. present in honey from China since 1997; knows that pandas favor the missionary was turning brown since Taipei’s hotter Chang I-jun (張麗君), a Taipei resident.