the buzz log

The upside of technology: the return of the zingy one-liner.

Lily Allen, the Brit singer whose boozy, woozy path was getting a lot of press until Amy Winehouse out-boozed and out-woozed her, is back. She's got a new album and she's luring lots of online attention (searches are up more than 600% in the past 7 days). But her Twitter-wars with online blogger Perez Hilton might just be the thing to restore her to her former catty glory.

Apparently the twosome have had cyberspace arguments before, but they were going at it fast and furious via Twitter on President's Day. Of course, since the microblogging blast only allows 140-character ripostes, the two had to be very succinct. To wit: Calling Hilton a "bitter lonely old queen" and a "little parasite." Youch. The (cleaned-up) response: If he were going to be a messed-up Brit, he'd "rather be Amy Winehouse — whose [sic] got talent." (Lightning-speed retorts don't allow for punctuation.)

Hilton says the sass was out of love (at least, from him). This hasn't been the only rant in techno-haiku: In January, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore fumed about neighbors doing construction work at 7 a.m.

Celebs have been on the Twitter-wagon for a while: The San Francisco Chronicle notes savvy and largely well-behaved luminaries include Erykah Badu (who "tweeted" about her labor), Shaquille O'Neal and, um, William Shatner.

But the chance to sign up and follow rancourous exchanges could give a new oomph to the microblogging site, which right now has 4.4 million users. (By the way, one study describes American Twitterites as "predominantly young [31], poor, blog-centric, social-network-happy urbanites.") Maybe feisty rivalries could encourage modern gems that could've dripped from the pen of Oscar Wilde or the lips of Groucho Marx.

Some people are already pursuing the idea of microblogs as a way to resuscitate literary wit, although maybe with a somewhat different approach than starlets vs. gossipmongers: a Twitter adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew." Oh, best beware the sting.

Filed under: Music, Social Networking, Gossip, Technology, Perez Hilton

But enough about me. Here's 25 more things about me.

In the old days, when friends gathered around the piano to sing songs and share tales, anyone who reeled off a list of personal pecadillos, preferences and other assorted personal trivia would probably be put in charge of changing the chamber pot.

But in the (post)modern age of memoirs, email questionnaires, and social networking, such odes to oneself now take on a chain-letter charm, and lots of Buzz. All Things Digital, which normally deals in the matter of tech company fortunes, delved into Facebook's "self-absorbed new craze" called "25 Random Things About Me," in which people list personal "facts, habits or goals."

The social part of it cleverly lies in the instructions: "Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note about 25 random things... At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged ... [Here comes the kicker] If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you." About me? Really? 25? How flattering. Isn't this the same pitch Bernard Madoff used?

The exercise (or meme, as culturalists like to call it) has triggered a spectrum of reaction from the blogosphere, from philosophical musings to delighting in shared discovery to bemoaning the pressure upon the tagged to come up with 25 reasonably intriguing factoids. The notion, like a writing assignment, has also inspired blogospheric riffs and confessions, like the female rabbi who, in a Houston Chronicle blog, admitted to listening to Rush Limbaugh. Technorati created a tag page devoted to assorted randomness.

A small Search uptick has registered on Yahoo! for variations of 25RTAM, probably out of voyeurism. Then again, who's to say that, in Talented Mr. Ripley or Single White Female-like fashion, someone won't be "borrowing" tidbits from other people's lists and cobble together a more fascinating profile?  

Of course, in the natural evolution of Facebook fads, clubs have sprung up around the 25RTAM issues. Groups with more than 20 members, to date (listed in order of total members):

• I Have Not Been Tagged for the "25 Random Things About Me" Chain Letter
• 25 Random Things
• NO! I Will Not Post "25 Random Things About ME!"
• Stop Tagging Me in 25 Random Things Posts You Tards
• Don't Write 25 Things
• I Like the "25 Random Things About You"...BUT!!!
• I Refuse To List 25 Random Things About Myself
• I Refuse to Complete the 25 Random Things List
• I'm Tired of Learning 25 Random Things About People

Next craze? We're guessing a toss-up between "25 Random Things You Didn't Know I Knew About You (AKA The Stalker Edition)" and "25 Random Books I Could've Written Instead of Frittering It All Away in Lists."

Filed under: Viral, Social Networking, Internet

In the old days, they were called fans, groupies, maybe even cult followers or stalkers. Now they're all social networkers. World Wrestling Entertainment officially released the WWE Universe, its one-stop grappling shop with blogs, videos, profiles, and every sweaty little detail about pro wrestlers and the people who heart them.

From the safety of their keyboards, Tech Crunch mocked the launch as a lonely hearts club-in-disguise for wrestlers, but Daily Variety reports that these wrestlers—or entertainers, as the bosses prefer they be called—have already herded more than 200,000 members before this week's public debut.

The numbers are no surprise, considering WWE's huge online popularity (as seen in daily searches for "wwe rumors," competition updates, and favorites like Maria, Ashley, and Lita). The empire, which celebrated its 800th episode Monday, likely hopes that Universe will smack down Facebook and MySpace from siphoning its fan base, although all that online love hasn't helped stock prices any.

As for which "entertainers" will be blogging, so far Matt Hardy promises a "DOUBLE dose of Mattitude" and diva Trish Status has delivered on some "Stratusfaction" updates. Chances of juicy insider gossip seem possible, like diva Victoria's first blog which mentioned three wrestlers who were "recently released" (i.e., laid off). Victoria, though, didn't do much more than philosophize about their departures: "The longer I'm in this business, this less of a surprise it is when a Superstar either is fired or quits." Sounds like everyone needs one big social networking hug.

Filed under: Social Networking, Entertainment, WWE