Twitter: No matter what Hollywood thinks, it's totally uncool for kids

Twitter: No matter what Hollywood thinks, it's totally uncool for kids
May 4, 2010 | 6:18 pm
Paging Ashton Kutcher: Do you know who's really following you on Twitter?

When I had a little downtime with this year's Summer Movie Posse, I asked them how they kept up with the buzz about movies. As you might expect, they spent a lot of time online, which gives them a chance to look at trailers or hear word of mouth about upcoming movies on their friends' Facebook pages or sites like Slashfilm.com or Comingsoon.net.

But when I asked whether they kept abreast of things via Twitter, they all looked at me like I was crazy. Rajiv Rao, who's 17, said "I don't know one high schooler that uses Twitter." His friend, Arya Zarifi, also 17, added: "It's something for adults who feel like it makes them hip or something."

Yalda Chalabi, 17, was especially dismissive of actors and celebrities who use Twitter as a self-promotional tool. "I hate it when they say, 'Follow me on Twitter,' as if we're interested in every little thing they have to say," she explained. "It's just an adult thing. Our music teacher kept saying that she would put stuff up for us to follow on Twitter until one day she said, 'OK, who's following me on Twitter?' And no one raised their hand. You keep hearing people talk about it, but I don't know anyone my age that uses it."

I guess that won't stop Mr. Kutcher from having a million followers on Twitter, but it won't make any celebrity an iota more hip just because they know how to tweet about where they're going for dinner tonight.