Celebrity Dish: Serving up the gossip you should know!

Twitter is an amazing thing. It is a social networking tool, connecting people and building friendships among followers. But in the celebrity world, it’s also a bridge, connecting them to their fans and those fans to each other – all in 140 characters or less.

For a celebrity, Twitter is a powerful form of communication. It can be used for promotional purposes, as in tweeting a photo from filming of a new movie. It can be used to support charities and organizations they care about, as in tweeting links to fundraisers and other ways to help. It also can be used for news purposes, as in tweeting about engagements or, sadly, break-ups.

And the power of it can be felt. Actor Peter Facinelli has issued two challenges via Twitter, and both were successful. He made a bet with a friend that if he reached 500,000 followers by a certain date, that friend had to dance on Hollywood Blvd. in a bikini to Beyonce’s Single Ladies. Facinelli won, and you can watch the dance at YouTube.com. Three months later, he promised to have one of two co-stars send out a tweet from his account when he got to 1 million followers. He did, and his “son” sent out a message to those 1 million followers.

Actress and singer Miley Cyrus abruptly closed her Twitter account last week, saying that boyfriend Liam Hemsworth wanted her to “with good reason.” Of course, within no time, #mileycomeback was the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter. I can’t help but wonder if it’s actually a good thing that she’s not sharing her private life with her more than 2 million (former) followers. Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, however, is pleading with her to return to Twitter, saying, “You can’t leave everyone now.”

Dame Elizabeth Taylor is still with us on Twitter, though, after heart surgery last week. She let her followers know that she was going in for the operation and let them know afterward that everything “went perfectly.” I am certain many additional prayers went her way because of those tweets.

Twitter was also how I found out that Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell was diagnosed with swine flu and is on the mend. He’s been keeping fans updated on his condition via his account. And, by the way, Backstreet’s back (all right!) with another album, This is Us. I’m keeping the pride alive, but am I the only who feels like it’s just not the same without Kevin Richardson?

As much as I love Twitter, sometimes things do get lost in translation, so to speak. On Friday, tweets went out from entertainment news sources that Heidi Klum had given birth to her fourth child. But that was a bit, well, premature. Her representatives said her latest bundle of joy had not arrived at that point. In this case, good news travels maybe a little too fast!

Of course, everyone wants their entertainment news instantly. And if you’re not following Killer Film at twitter.com/Killer_Film – or me at twitter.com/AccentOnLife – you should. Get the good scoop first!

Krista Richmond is a journalist and pop culture enthusiast. Have a question, suggestion or hot gossip tip? Send them to her at krista@killerfilm.com.