The Dalai Lama on Twitter??

Celebrity activity is something that has always been apart of the Twitter community. Since it’s founding, celebrities have flocked to Twitter to express their opinions, promote their work, and to gain followers. Celebrities such as Britney Spears and Lance Armstrong top the 2009 celebrity Twitter lists along with politicians Al Gore and President Obama. Twitter has become a common practice for celebrities to reach their public.

In 2009, Time Magazine Online listed 10 top celebrities Twitters as follows:
1. Britney Spears
2. Snoop Dogg
3. John Hodgman: PC Guy
4. Claire McCaskill
5. Lance Armstrong
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger
8. David Lynch
9. Ashton Kutcher
10. Demi Moore

While many celebrities were quick to sign-up and start tweeting, many others took their time before joining the networking site. New reports are circulating that Bill Gates has recently joined the Twitter ranks on February 19th. Within a few days, he has accumulated approximately 500,000 followers and growing. Also, popular rapper Lil Wayne has become a new user in the Twitter realm. His account was created on February 21st and has gained around 120,000 followers.

Another big name to make a scene in the Twitter world is the Dalai Lama. According to Twitter.com, the Dalai Lama signed up for a Twitter account on February 22nd. Many would think the famous spiritual leader would be the last person to create a Twitter account. More proof that Twitter is taking over the world? On February 21st, creator and founder of Twitter, Evan Williams posted a tweet saying “Met the Dalai Lama today in L.A. Pitched him on using Twitter. He laughed.” The very next day, the Dalai Lama created an official Twitter account.

Within a few hours of registering an account, the Dalai Lama has an estimated 35,500 followers. However, within that time the account has been jazzed up with photos and webcasts from the Dalai Lama’s web team. Click here to see the Dalai Lama’s Twitter page.

What I find the most interesting about these reports is the number of people following these celebrities within a matter of days. It is so fascinating to see 500,000 people join together to view Bill Gates’ Twitter activity within 3 days. This once again proves the power of Twitter and the sheer number of people actively using the site.

Would these celebrities have been able to reach such a large number of people within the same time span without using Twitter? What are your thoughts on these new celebrity additions to Twitter?

View the Mashable.com post on the Dalai Lama's Twitter addition