Ashton Kutcher. Britney Spears. Michael Phelps. Rachel Maddow. Celebrities of all stripes are jumping on Twitter, and by extension, social media. Yet many are using it as a means to talk at their audiences. In doing so, they ignore the power of the medium. You—and your brand—can benefit by listening.

It’s happened quite suddenly: celebrities have found Twitter, and so have the masses. In the last few weeks, we’ve started to hear more and more in the media about Twitter, everything from Larry King/CNN and Ashton Kutcher throwing down in a contest to be the first to reach 1 million followers (Kutcher won), to Oprah doing her first tweet. What started as a small community of early social media adopters has become the CB radio—no, the AOL—of the late 2000s.

I realized this the other day when CNN’s HLN channel started posting “Follow CNNBRK on Twitter for breaking news” at the bottom of the screen. I sat there amazed: Twitter IDs…on CNN?!? Clearly, things have changed, and they’ve changed very rapidly:

Twitter has gone mainstream.

“Getting” social media

This recent tweet from Julian Matthews (@trinetizen) got me thinking: all the recent news about Twitter, all the recent Twitter adoption by celebrities, is going to cause two things: 1) the masses will investigate, and 2) the masses’ impression of Twitter will be hugely impacted by this flurry of celebrity tweeting.

The only problem? If you don’t follow others, you can’t possibly “get” the value of Twitter…or any social media, for that matter.

Why? First of all, Twitter’s value comes from dialogue. Social media and networking were borne out of the desire to connect you to others, to learn from others, to create an exchange, and to share items of interest. When we use it as it was intended, social media is extremely powerful: consider the recent successful Obama presidential campaign.

But when we use social media for monologue, e.g., blasting one-way content at whomever will listen, then we’re not connecting, we’re shouting from a street corner.

Imagine, if you will, handing out megaphones at the various street corners in Times Square. Add some TV cameras to the mix. What would you get? Overwhelming cacophony of very little value.

Yet that’s how many Twittering celebrities are using the site: as one more one-way communication channel. Some seem to be taking the time to respond to fans, but most appear very uni-directional.

That had me wondering: which celebs are following the most people, and by extension, getting a more accurate impression of Twitter? Is it Demi Moore or Ashton Kutcher? Oprah? Larry King? Let’s take a look.

Celebrity Twitter Follow Ratio

---

LAST NAME	FIRST	TWITTER ID	CATEGORY	FOLLOWING	FOLLOWERS	RATIO
Rove	Karl	@KarlRove	Politician	40982	43,514	94.181%
Ono	Yoko	@yokoono	Musician	29623	31,602	93.738%
Gudmundsdottir	Bjork	@bjork	Musician	20362	22,467	90.631%
Schwarzenegger	Arnold	@schwarzenegger	Politician	42483	51,244	82.903%
Shriver	Maria	@mariashriver	Celebrity	41035	50,115	81.882%
Colbert	Stephen	@StephenTColbert	Comedian	12013	30,235	39.732%
Sanchez	Rick	@ricksanchezcnn	News	32988	83,326	39.589%
Tyler	Aisha	@aishatyler	Comedian	999	2,742	36.433%
Spears	Britney	@britneyspears	Musician	376224	1,166,446	32.254%
Ireland	Kathy	@kathyireland	Model	2064	6,557	31.478%
Drescher	Fran	@frandrescher	Actor	3226	11,956	26.982%
Heap	Imogen	@imogenheap	Musician	36430	232,743	15.652%
Williams	Robin	@rwilliamscomedy	Comedian	1263	10,396	12.149%
Hamm	Jon	@JonHamm	Actor	627	5,451	11.502%
Loeb	Lisa	@lisaloeb4real	Musician	728	6,510	11.183%
Hawkshaw	Kirsty	@kirstyhawkshaw	Musician	42	402	10.448%
Branson	Richard	@richardbranson	Celebrity	6597	89,965	7.333%
Doig	Lexa	@LexaShmexa	Actor	19	343	5.539%
Hammer	MC	@MCHammer	Musician	26065	528,118	4.935%
Fonda	Jane	@Janefonda	Actor	638	12,933	4.933%
Hemingway	Mariel	@Marielhemingway	Model	187	4,749	3.938%
Spektor	Regina	@reginaspektor	Musician	452	23,895	1.892%
Love	Courtney	@courtneylover79	Musician	258	16,195	1.593%
Hansen	Chris	@chrishansen	News	79	5,419	1.458%
Craven	Wes	@wescraven	Director	73	6,831	1.069%
Grant	Brea	@breagrant	Actor	178	19,925	0.893%
Cho	Margaret	@margaretcho	Comedian	152	27,140	0.560%
Bateman	Justine	@JustineBateman	Actor	43	10,625	0.405%
Milano	Alyssa	@Alyssa_Milano	Actor	84	22,191	0.379%
Watson	Emma	@mwtsnx	Actor	33	11,327	0.291%
Hewlett	David	@dhewlett	Actor	30	11,503	0.261%
Hodgman	John	@hodgman	Comedian	151	59,581	0.253%
Carolla	Adam	@adamcarolla	Comedian	34	14,133	0.241%
Takei	George	@georgetakei	Actor	27	11,334	0.238%
Lithgow	John	@John_Lithgow	Actor	22	9,571	0.230%
Bollea	Terry	@RealHulkHogan	Athlete	10	4,722	0.212%
Phelps	Michael	@Michael_Phelps	Athlete	207	133,216	0.155%
Dogg	Snoop	@snoopdogg	Musician	248	176,885	0.140%
Maddow	Rachel	@maddow	News	553	407,129	0.136%
Rogen	Seth	@Seth_Rogen	Actor	102	85,298	0.120%
Dick	Andy	@andydick	Comedian	19	15,971	0.119%
Stiller	Ben	@ben_stiller	Actor	16	21,376	0.075%
O’Neill	Shaquille	@THE_REAL_SHAQ	Athlete	510	797,989	0.064%
Tequila	Tila	@officialTila	Celebrity	62	97,585	0.064%
Grunberg	Greg	@greggrungerg	Actor	161	254,730	0.063%
Knowles	Solange	@solangeknowles	Musician	66	109,447	0.060%
Corddry	Rob	@robcorddry	Comedian	140	244,237	0.057%
Pollak	Kevin	@kevinpollak	Comedian	88	164,964	0.053%
Favreau	Jon	@Jon_Favreau	Director	26	54,405	0.048%
Cook	Dane	@danecook	Comedian	67	147,186	0.046%
Cleese	John	@JohnCleese	Comedian	63	148,931	0.042%
Swift	Taylor	@tayswift	Musician	21	52,220	0.040%
Izzard	Eddie	@eddieizzard	Actor	34	86,185	0.039%
King	Larry	@kingsthings	News	46	123,698	0.037%
Yankovic	Al	@alyankovic	Musician	88	255,235	0.034%
Hilton	Perez	@perezhilton	Playah	180	682,400	0.026%
Lynch	David	@DAVID_LYNCH	Director	17	66,523	0.026%
Jackman	Hugh	@RealHughJackman	Actor	33	131,194	0.025%
Wheaton	Wil	@wilw	Actor	104	485,854	0.021%
Burton	LeVar	@levarburton	Actor	80	395,490	0.020%
Pinsky	Drew	@drdrew	Celebrity	96	492,284	0.020%
Combs	Sean	@iamdiddy	Musician	121	702,265	0.017%
Simpson	Jessica	@JessicaSimpson	Musician	13	89,038	0.015%
Frye	Soleil Moon	@moonfrye	Musician	42	290,561	0.014%
Cooper	Anderson	@andersoncooper	News	22	159,230	0.014%
Richie	Nicole	@nicolerichie	Musician	22	171,277	0.013%
Fallon	Jimmy	@jimmyfallon	Comedian	97	815,980	0.012%
Moore	Demi	@mrskutcher	Actor	79	741,236	0.011%
Shatner	William	@WilliamShatner	Actor	6	58,708	0.010%
Hawk	Tony	@tonyhawk	Athlete	51	502,466	0.010%
Allen	Lily	@lilyroseallen	Musician	17	168,882	0.010%
Kutcher	Ashton	@aplusk	Actor	136	1,419,112	0.010%
Simpson	Ashley	@ashsimpsonwentz	Musician	29	306,223	0.009%
Durst	Fred	@freddurst	Musician?	31	335,258	0.009%
Kardashian	Kim	@KimKardashian	Model	40	489,102	0.008%
Cyrus	Miley	@mileycyrus	Musician	34	416,733	0.008%
Armstrong	Lance	@lancearmstrong	Athlete	56	706,131	0.008%
Buscemi	Steve	@Steve_Buscemi	Actor	2	26,614	0.008%
Brand	Russell	@rustyrockets	Musician	20	266,322	0.008%
Stewart	Martha	@MarthaStewart	Celebrity	28	475,408	0.006%
Carey	Mariah	@MariahCarey	Musician	11	192,358	0.006%
Smith	Kevin	@ThatKevinSmith	Director	22	415,684	0.005%
Mayer	John	@johncmayer	Musician	39	845,882	0.005%
McHale	Joel	@joelmchale	Comedian	11	343,109	0.003%
Swift	Taylor	@taylorswift13	Musician	10	329,401	0.003%
Jackson	Curtis	@50cent	Musician	10	487,776	0.002%
Winfrey	Oprah	@Oprah	Celebrity	11	594,586	0.002%
DeGeneres	Ellen	@TheEllenShow	Comedian	20	1,145,396	0.002%
Spiner	Brent	@BrentSpiner	Actor	4	292,013	0.001%
Gore	Al	@algore	Politician	7	664,161	0.001%
Burke	Brooke	@brookeburke	Model	4	472,497	0.001%
Moore	Mandy	@TheMandyMoore	Musician	2	258,107	0.001%
Jillette	Penn	@pennjillette	Comedian	3	452,450	0.001%
Matthews	Dave	@DaveJMatthews	Musician	3	505,054	0.001%
Barton	Mischa	@mischabarton	Actor	0	1,463	0.000%
Griffin	Kathy	@kathygriffin	Comedian	0	12,657	0.000%
Vila	Bob	@BobVilacom	Celebrity	0	107,520	0.000%

Amongst the least dialoguey celebs are, yes, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Oprah and Larry King. Pat yourselves on the back, kids! The news commentator ranks the highest of the group, but even he is only following a mere 46 people out of the 123,000+ following him.

Interestingly, the person most open to the most inbound information is none other than Karl Rove. Whether you think he’s a wiley super-genius or Satan Reincarnate, the man is at least giving the appearance of doing the most listening. I’d say he’s up there in the Most Likely to Get Social Media camp.

In the meantime, his political antithesis, Al Gore, is following 7 people out of 664,000.

Musicians Yoko Ono and Björk are both following over 90% of those who follow them. Yet Mandy Moore and Dave Matthews follow 2 and 3 people, respectively.

In the news realm, CNN’s Rick Sanchez is following over 30,000 people. Talk about casting the net widely! But CNN’s own Anderson Cooper follows a paltry 22.

Finally, comedian Robin Williams is following over 1200 people. Yet comedienne Kathy Griffin, whom I find equally hilarious, has only posted two tweets and follows no one. Kathy, here’s your perfect focus group for jokes!

Your brand needs to listen, too

And I guess that segues into the punch line for my post: like these celebs, you need to listen to your audiences—your market—if you want to understand social media: how it works, the advantages, the disadvantages, and the power it provides. Not power to blast your one-way message to waiting millions, but the knowledge, connections, conversation and feedback it provides.

Because if all your brand is doing is barking on a street corner with a megaphone, you ignore the competitive advantage provided by engaging your market. You ignore market feedback, specific market needs, advice on what to avoid pursuing, and perhaps just some really good ideas. By not listening, you won’t really “get” the power of social tools.

You leave your social media “success” up to the power of your brand’s celebrity—or lack thereof. And you do so at your competitive peril.

---

Caveats

I’ve excluded Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and others where their tweets were clearly done by staffers. Britney Spears was included because her staff differentiates between her tweets and those of her manager/publicist. There are other minor celebrities, some of whom you may feel unnecessarily excluded, that I bypassed simply because I didn’t know much about them.

Obviously, also there is a human limit to the number of people you can follow before the resulting onslaught of information becomes unmanageable. So while MC Hammer and others may be following thousands, for them the Twitter experience is likely overwhelming on a good day, repulsive on a bad one. A high following ratio shows openness, not necessarily actual listening. I get that.

Finally, I didn’t link many of the Twitter handles because I simply didn’t have time. I think you can manage.