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I was quoted yesterday in a story in The Pioneer on Indian celebrities using Twitter. Earlier, I was quoted in a Mail Today story on celebrities using Twitter.

I think Twitter is ideal for celebrities because of a few reasons –

- It’s simple. You have 140 letters to say what you want to.
- It is essentially one-to-many. You don’t need to follow the fans who follow you. They will be delighted if you just reply to their @username messages.
- It is built to be used with mobile, via SMS, mobile web or a mobile app.
- It has an evolved app ecosystem, so you can directly upload photos to it via TwitPic etc., and find an app that is perfect for your device.
- It is hot, so if you are a celeb using Twitter, you are bound to attract lots of media attention.

Here is the full text of the story –

What are celebs doing now?
…. If you want to know it, log on to Twitter that is now fast catching the fancy of desi star, says ASRP Mukesh
Friday, July 24, 2009  Read More

I was quoted today in Indian daily Mail Today in a story on the increasing popularity of Twitter in India.

The story talks about how an engaged Twitter community has emerged in India since I organized India’s first tweetup two years back. A case in point in the tweetup with writer, UN diplomat, and member of parliament Shashi Tharoor organized by Twilight Fairy.

The article also chronicles the use of Twitter by Indian celebrities like Shashi Tharoor, Rahul Gandhi, Gul Panang and Mallika Sherawat.

Here’s the ful text of the story –

If you don’t tweet you haven’t arrived

By Neha Tara Mehta in New Delhi

Not only the geeks but glitterati too are hooked to the micro- blogging networking site

IT TOOK just 140 characters to change the way our celebrities talk to us. You no longer need Page 3 to know who Mallika Sherawat is flirting with, when Shashi Tharoor gets a haircut, and the kind of music that helps Rahul Gandhi unwind.

All you need is to follow their ‘ tweets’ — 140- character- long updates on what they think of life, the universe and everything.  Read More

Earlier today, I had suggested that Global Voices and Desipundit lead the effort to create a ‘State of the Indian Blogosphere 2009‘ collaborative report. Going by the positive reaction to the idea, it seems that the report will happen in one form or another.

To start things off, here is a list of the top five newsworthy events in the Indian blogosphere in 2008 –

1. Citizen journalism played an important role in covering the 11/26 Mumbai terror attack.

Citizen journalism came to age in India during the 11/26 Mumbai terror attack.

Several bloggers posted first hand updates during the three day crisis (Amit Varma, Sonia Faleiro, Rahul Bhatia, Arun Shanbhag), several others live-blogged reactions on legacy media news, and some of us played the role of curators (Global Voices, DesiPundit, Mumbai Help, Dina Mehta, Gauravonomics).

Almost a month after the Mumbai terror attack, Indian bloggers continue to discuss the tragedy and many observers believe that this engagement will continue till the 2009 Indian general elections.

2. Corporate blogging and, even CEO blogging, made a tentative start in India.  Read More