Murdoch Joins Twitter: Faces Users’ Ire

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, in a surprise move, has opened an account on micro-blogging Web site Twitter. The 80-year-old, however, received mixed reactions and some sharp criticism, from his now fellow micro-bloggers.

Twitter users had initially suspected Murdoch's account to be fake. However, the San Francisco-based Web site's founder, Jack Dorsey, confirmed its authenticity: With his own voice, in his own way, @RupertMurdoch is now on Twitter.

Several other users saw this as an opportunity to vent their ire against the founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of News Corp., for the many legal problems he finds himself in.

John Prescott, the former Deputy Leader of the British Labor Party, wrote: Hey @rupertmurdoch. I'm surprised you're only following two people. The police said it was at least 800!

Another user, with the Twitter handle @qwerty0p80, wrote: Following a Satan parody account? Well now you can follow the real thing! @rupertmurdoch has joined twitter! #EvilBastard.

Meanwhile, a third user, rwaltondavies, said: @rupertmurdoch u r a cancer on our democracy. Please retire soon.

Several other users expressed their disbelief at Murdoch's entry, while a few others chose to see the more humorous elements in the news. Incidentally, users are also critically following his grammar and language; he received quite a few remarks over a tweet referring to England as broke. The tweet was later deleted.

Here are some other interesting tweets:

lowey5: No point in following @rupertmurdoch, hes probably hacked my account already :-)

carlescm: @rupertmurdoch WoW Welcome to Twitter! Can you help us doing a RT? we are giving for free 1TapVideo today & tomorrow. itunes .apple.com/app/1tapvideo.

thefinnigans: So @rupertmurdoch has joined Twitter. Like many of his hacks, 140 chars will be too long for him.

nbanbury: Wow. @rupertMurdoch's grasp of grammar and punctuation goes a long way to explain why he employs illiterate editors.

paulGeeReally: @rupertmurdoch on twitter! Makes sense. He has a history of following people.

There are also reports suggesting Murdoch's Twitter debut was a PR exercise; one user attempted to connect the new account to news of a certain News Corp. share holder investing in Twitter.

Rupert Murdoch already has 17 tweets to his credit, on a variety of topics. He tweeted on Steve Jobs' biography, job creation, films, the U.S. elections, his vacations and included a few general musings.

His account has already registered more than 45,000 followers. He is following four persons, including Jack Dorsey.

Interestingly he is yet to follow his wife - @Wendy_Deng.