Stars start to think before they tweet

CELEBRITIES may want to resist the urge to send a stream of consciousness on Twitter in the New Year after so many of them tweeted their way into trouble on everything from boxer briefs to breast-feeding in 2011.

Nascar driver Kasey Kahne became the latest celebrity to blunder on Twitter, when he had to apologise for a tweet critical of public breast-feeding. But Kahne has been far from alone in discovering Twitter’s pitfalls. Last year saw US congressman Anthony Weiner resign in a scandal that began with an errant tweet, and the musings of Hollywood stars such as Ashton Kutcher generated public controversy.

2011 may be seen as a turning point when more celebrities and politicians saw the dangers of Twitter and quit sending unfiltered messages. Handlers are likely to play a larger role in managing the stars’ Twitter accounts.