As Rubert Murdoch and (a fake) Wendi Deng became Twitter's newest celebrity couple, veteran tweeters Katy Perry and Russell Brand called it quits. What's the secret to a happy marriage--on Twitter?
Celebrity magazines are filled with the proclamations of relationship experts who think they can determine whether a couple is in love or on the outs based on a simple photo. But in the digital age, reading body language isn't enough: To judge a couple's status, you need to be able to read between the tweets. Rupert Murdoch and someone claiming to be his wife, Wendi Deng, joined the ranks of the Twitterati in the last few days, causing media outlets to ordain them the new Twitter celebrity couple to watch. (The Deng account wound up being fake.) Meanwhile, Katy Perry and Russell Brand, longtime tweeters, have called it quits. What can we infer of a couple's offline relationship from their online one?
One reason the Wendi Deng account seemed so believable was that it was filled with 140-character bursts of affection. "@rupertmurdoch happy 2012 to u too sweetheart. I LOVE U!!!" she tweeted on the 1st. "@rupertmurdoch love u! but u work too hard sweets!" she tweeted, again on the 1st. When the Rupe tweeted, "Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country!" she replied, "@rupertmurdoch RUPERT!!! delete tweet!" Remarkably, it seems he did so--meaning that the Deng impersonation may not only have duped Twitter (which awarded it a confirmed account briefly), but even Murdoch himself.
Viewing Perry's and Brand's Twitter feeds with the benefit of hindsight, though, perhaps it's no surprise the couple are splitting. Once upon a time, the two regaled their millions of followers with digital public displays of affection. "@katyperry I'm hosting my own awards (#RBMA's) you win. See you wednesday (in LA)," Brand tweeted, together with a picture of him holding out a flower, in September of 2010. Other tweets were much racier: "@katyperry my darling, for me an 'In and out burger'...
[Source: Fast Company]
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