Twitter has become the most important soap-box of the media world – forget reading about gossip in weekly mags and online rags, these days we want it immediately from our favourite ‘slebs smartphone.

It really is a wonder the impact that just 140 characters can make on a campaign.  You can have a steady increase of followers, and then BOOM! Stephen Fry gives you a mention and your figures leap.

Lazy folk don’t even need to write a personal message, they can just retweet somebody, and then your reach automatically widens to their avid followers too.

Celebrity endorsement from shampoo to cars is a multi-billion pound industry with temperamental results, yet the power of a recommendation on Twitter is immense.  Simon Cowell asked the Twittersphere where he could get a Poppy Twibbon (like a bumper plate sticker for your Twitter avatar, a way to show your allegiance to a cause), PoppyLegion (aka us here at Launch!) replied linking to the Official Royal British Legion Twibbon and Simon told his 40,000 followers that he “highly recommends” following PoppyLegion.  The result? 160 people started following Poppy almost immediately. 

It is also a great outlet for enquiries; after the X Factor gang wore personalised sparkly poppies, everyone wanted to know where to get one.  As a result, they completely sold out (raising massive amounts for the Poppy Appeal) particularly after Dannii Minogue and The Saturdays tweeted about how much they loved theirs. 

The charity 2 Minute Silence single is supported by myriad public figures – from sports stars to musicians and politicians – and has created a great Twitter publicity push that reaches a great scope of the population; Thom Yorke reached the alternative crowd, David Tennant called out to his Dr Who devotees and Stephen Fry enlightened his 2 million fans.

In the two weeks of the 2010 Poppy Appeal , PoppyLegion has multiplied her followers by a third, an amazing achievement which I’m sure is down to  the passion for the cause – not just celebrity advocacy…but it sure does help point people in our direction.

So if you too want to join the clique of a media mogul, ex-Prime Minister and top popstars I’d recommend you follow @PoppyLegion too.

Are you Twittering? That’s the question being put to friends, family and colleagues alike. It’s difficult to remain ignorant of the micro-blogging sensation that’s been gripping the UK, the subsequent celebrity endorsements and the vocab overhaul that’s seen people sprouting incomprehensible expressions such as tweet, twit and twitterer. But if you somehow missed the phenomenal uptake of such things (where have you been?), you may want to head on over to the official site that started it all.

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