The cynic in me thinks it's all about the celebrities tying themselves in with it to boost their public image.
They're tweeting their condolences and then five minutes later promoting their latest tv show/tour/book or telling the world they had a hard boiled egg for breakfast via the same medium.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:00, 2 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

No different from what it'd be in real life then
If a friend of mine tells me their *insert relative here* has died, I'll pass on my condolences, but once I'm off the phone, it doesn't enter my mind again, not until I send them my best wishes on the day of the funeral. It's human.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:02, Reply)

Yes but this isn't real life it's a social networking site that doesn't work in the same way as speaking to someone on the phone and then hanging up.
You can't really compare the two.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:13, Reply)

I don't think their motivations are that bad
But I do think that they shouldn't do it.
(BelladonnaAnodyne Melissa's gonna wet herself, I swear..., Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:03, Reply)

I think that twitter should fuck off

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:15, Reply)

Agreed, I might ditch my account
I rarely check it, and when I do it's spammed with useless, uninteresting shit.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:18, Reply)

almost everything anyone has to say is useless and uninteresting
which is why I dislike twitter so much
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:19, Reply)

And you can read that here

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Tue 8 Feb 2011, 12:20, Reply)