Media

How Charlie Sheen Found Twitter

March 2, 2011  •  2 min read  •  By Brian Morrissey

It seemed too good to be true when an @charliesheen Twitter account appeared yesterday around noon, though its legitimacy was confirmed with Twitter’s “verified” seal of approval.

It turns out Sheen didn’t just impulsively start a Twitter account the morning after he made waves with a series of bizarre interviews. Instead, a member of his camp contacted social media celebrity ad network Ad.ly for help in setting up his presence, according to the company.
That’s not so unusual, according to Ad.ly CEO Arnie Gullov-Singh, since the company is known around Hollywood for the work it has done in social media with about 1,000 celebs like Kim Kardashian.
“There is a huge gap in Hollywood in understanding social media,” he said. “We ended up filling that gap. We’ve earned the reputation as the go-to guys in Hollywood for social media.”
It used contacts at Twitter to wrangle the @charliesheen account for a squatter and also get it verified before Sheen even tweeted, according to Gullov-Singh.
With a quick Ad.ly’s tutorial, Sheen comes off as a wily Twitter pro. He quickly started using hashtags, link-shortener Bit.ly and posting photos via Twitpic.
Thanks to his current stranglehold on the pop culture-news media nexus, Sheen has what could be one of the fastest growing ever Twitter accounts.
In just over 24 hours, he’s amassed nearly 1 million followers. Since he’s out of work, it begs the question if followers should expect some ads next. Gullov-Singh says that might come but not necessarily, since Ad.ly often provides free social media consulting to celebrities in the hopes of working with them later in a commercial capacity. Ad.ly campaigns typically cost advertisers between $1-$2 per click and run across Twitter and Facebook.
“We want to be top of mind if they think about monetizing it,” Gullov-Singh said of Sheen’s account. ‘He may never think of monetizing it.”
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