Ashton Kutcher Vs. CNN On Twitter

Actor Challenges Media Company To Hit 1 Million Followers On The Popular Microblogging Site

(AP)  The race for 1 million followers on Twitter is on: In one corner is CNN; in the other, Ashton Kutcher.

Just a few weeks ago, no one was close to reaching that benchmark. Now, as users have flocked to the increasingly popular microblogging site, the numbers have grown.

CNN's breaking news feed (www.twitter.com/cnnbrk) is in the lead with more than 937,000 followers as of noon Wednesday. Britney Spears is second, with more than 903,000 followers, while Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk) has seen his follower count grow to more than 888,000.

The 31-year-old actor recently threw down the gauntlet, challenging CNN and its founder, Ted Turner. In a Web video posted earlier this week, Kutcher said he would ding-dong-ditch Turner's house if he beat CNN to 1 million. (For those unfamiliar with the classic adolescent prank, ding-dong-ditch is when you ring someone's doorbell and run away.)

"I find it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter," Kutcher said in a video he posted on qik.com. "I just thought that was kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media."

Kutcher later promised a "Guitar Hero" video game to his millionth follower, before quickly realizing it would be difficult to identify such a person.

In postings on Twitter, Kutcher said he was fielding interview requests, including one from CNN's Larry King. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was mulling the offers and claiming it was a "saga for the Internet," not TV.

Not to be outdone, King posted a video on YouTube boasting the wrath of his company and sounding a lot like Ned Beatty's TV network chairman character in the film "Network."

Said King: "Are you kidding? Do you think you can take on an entire network? Do you know how big we are? Do you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you're playing out of your field. You're in another time zone. This ain't gonna work. CNN will bury you!"

CNN, which is owned by Time Warner Inc., didn't immediately have a comment Wednesday morning. Spokespeople for Twitter didn't return a request for comment.

Both Kutcher and his wife, actress Demi Moore, are popular Twitter users. Kutcher, in particular, is an avid poster of tweets - messages that must be 140 characters or less.

Earlier this month, Internet traffic analyst comScore reported that monthly unique visitors to the site reached 4 million in February, up more than 1,000 percent from a year ago.

Though its numbers aren't up-to-the-minute, the site http://twitterholic.com ranks the most popular profiles on Twitter.

And if you're wondering who's in fourth, the Twitter feed for Ellen DeGeneres and her talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," is trailing with more than 789,000 followers - a number large enough to dance about, at least.


Which Twitter user do you think should be the most popular? E-mail AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle at jcoyle(at)ap.org

[trillion1]

Couldn't care less about that loser.

[jxknowles]

Hey Ashton! Try making a decent movie instead of the crapola you put out. You are an actor aren't you?

Don't these people have anything better to do with their lives?

[jxknowles]

Hey Ashton! Try making a decent movie instead of the crapola you put out. You are an actor aren't you?

Don't these people have anything better to do with their lives?

[jxknowles]

Hey Ashton! Try making a decent movie instead of the crapola you put out. You are an actor aren't you?

Don't these people have anything better to do with their lives?

[danpatch3]

Is he 12 or what????

[geminispyder-2009]

If this makes news, then I have a headline that should be considered really important by comparison:

"It's April 15, 2009 and CBS is still #3 in the nightly news ratings."

[CnUHerMeNow]

I cannot really believe that this ridiculousness is a "news" story. Does CBS want to be taken seriously? Then I don't see how if they post this sort of nonsense. NO ONE cares about this.

[jimmyc1955]

Here is a classic case of who cares? A spoiled, self involved celebrity with very little talent or a self involved megalomaniac who owns a massive media outlet he uses for his personal political trumpet?

What is most horrifying is that with the power of celebrity these days low 2 digit IQs like Kucher are heavily rewarded for being famous. His only talent seems to be going to bed with Demi Moore and playing a self centered, egotistical stoner - which is mostly Ashton playing Ashton.

[valh1]

Ashton, I thought you pledged to do anything you could to help Obama after he won the presidency. How is this going to help? I haven't heard of one thing that any of those celebridumbs have done since their youtube pledge to Obama. Egotistical maniacs all!