Simon Pegg On Why He Loves Twitter

The comedian and actor Simon Pegg has a guest column in this week’s New Statesman where he writes about his admiration for Twitter, despite initial reservations. Pegg, who’s work in the cult TV series Spaced, as well as appearances in popular movies such as Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and the Star Trek reboot have made him a much-loved figure, signed up for Twitter in January 2009, only to then completely ignore the platform for the next 18 months. "I resisted Twitter for a long time, initially because I didn't understand it. The IT whiz where I work suggested I secure my Twitter name in case somebody made off with it. I agreed this would be a good idea, desperate not to lose something I didn't know I had.” It was only when his friend and frequent writing/acting collaborator Nick Frost started tweeting that Pegg decided to give Twitter a proper go. "I didn't think about it again for a year and a half, until I discovered that my friend Nick Frost had started tweeting. Nick is equally, if not more, private than me and I was surprised that he had waded into the murky waters of this social quagmire.” A friendly kick from another British institution on Twitter helped Pegg find a larger audience, and increased his enjoyment level. “Along the way, though, earning those followers was a lot of fun. I was given a helping hand by @stephenfry, who recommended me to his legion of friends, gaining me 20,000 new souls in just 24 hours." Pegg, who is now closing in rapidly on a million followers, is philosophical about the attractions of Twitter. "Tweets have become a sort of contemporary haiku, sometimes artfully worded moments of linguistic economy and inventive abbreviation," he writes. "Whether these compressed sound-bytes are fascinating info flashes cleverly shaped by the narrow funnel from which they emerge – or just so much twaddle – Twitter has emerged as the most talked-about cyber-nexus out there." For the full article, and to read the rest of Pegg’s thoughts, you’ll need to pick up this week’s New Statesman.

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Simon Pegg On Why He Loves Twitter

Shea Bennett

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Shea Bennett