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Comedian Michael Ian Black to Actor LeVar Burton: "It's Twitter War!"

by Chad Mumm on February 23, 2009 at 07:45 PM

When comedian Michael Ian Black ('Best Week Ever,' 'Stella') first began using micro-blogging site Twitter last month, he was surprised to find that his popularity on the site was eclipsed by actor LeVar Burton ('Star Trek: The Next Generation,' 'Reading Rainbow'). A heavy adapter of the Web 2.0-lifestyle, LeVar Burton keeps a blog (where he narrates all of his posts!) and is a prolific Twitter poster, with over 30,000 followers on the site. His posts are often highly personal, especially when compared to other celebrities on the site.

Burton began his earnest Twittering after reclaiming his name from an imposter, who had created a fake LeVar Burton account and amassed quite a following. Incidentally, the same thing happened to Michael Ian Black, who also began using Twitter after reclaiming his own name from an imposter. Black, apparently baffled by his own meager 300 followers -- Burton wields a formidable list of 30,000 -- decided to launch a Twitter War on Burton, stating on his Web site on February 21st, 2009 under the heading "It's War on LeVar:'
Shouldn't I have at least that many people reading my every missive? Shouldn't thirty thousand people know when I am meeting with a group of former astronauts, as LeVar is doing today? I think so.


Burton soon responded with this statement on his own Twitter account:
LeVar Burton@michaelianblack has declared a Twitter War on me. It may be necessary to go Kunta on his ass!
Since the "LeWar" started, Black's followers have increased tenfold, although fans of both personalities have taken up the charge and exchanged salvos of postings. These shenanigans follow a budding trend of entertainers embracing Web 2.0 to connect with fans, and we admit that we've found the good-natured tête a tête endearing to both personalities. With more and more celebrities on Twitter these days, you can bet this Twitter War won't be the last. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a William Shatner vs. Patrick Stewart throw-down. In the meantime, you can keep up with the battle on Michael Ian Black's Twitter page at twitter.com/michaelianblack and on LeVar Burton's at twitter.com/levarburton.

Tags: levar burton, LevarBurton, lewar, michael ian black, MichaelIanBlack, top, twitter, twitter war, TwitterWar

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