Nowadays, journals are losing traction and Twitter is hailed as the new diary. It’s a ubiquitous form of social-networking that millions of people now engage in, where sarcasm is unfiltered and thoughts are condensed into 140 words. HC has been keeping tabs on the funniest, snarkiest and simply brilliant Twitter feeds. Below is a compilation of our top ten favorites, in no particular order. If you aren’t following them yet, you’re missing out.
@lenadunham: Who other than Lena Dunham would have the audacity to tweet about conversations with her gynecologist and her Lil Wayne tank top? Director, writer and actress of HBO’s Girls, Dunham blurs the line between sarcasm and genuineness with her brutally honest tweets. Plus, only on her Twitter will you find an unashamed admittance of her affinity for pop music: “Update: @taylorswift13’s album is triumphant. If she’d been here when I was in college I would have written papers on her, not Sylvia Plath.”
@mindykaling: Writer, producer, director and actor on NBC’s The Office and now her own show The Mindy Project, Kaling keeps followers amused with jokes on celebrity gossip and by live tweeting as she watches the Superbowl (“Quarterback means ‘the hot one’ in football I thought”). Her tweets, drenched in subtle and overbearing humor, are guaranteed to have you chuckling as you refresh your Twitter feed during that unbearably long lecture.
@fakeapstylebook: This one is for you, grammar junkies. A constant stream of “style tips for proper writing”, Fake AP Stylebook dispenses tips about tenses, pronouns, citations, but each tweet is surprisingly relevant. It’s like grammar-for-dummies-who-need-entertainment. Need proof? On Valentine’s Day, the anonymous tweeter reminded us that “This day only it is acceptable to dot every lowercase I with a heart. Make it count.”
@stevemartintogo: We know Steve Martin is a hilarious man. The comedian joined the Twittersphere in 2010 and now has over 3.5 million followers with his unashamedly funny tweets; one of our favorites: “Beginning after Thanksgiving, my Tweets will be gluten-free.” They’re so hilarious that his top tweets, accompanied by the best responses from his followers, were compiled into a book, The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin. How’s that for Twitter celebrity?
@yokoono: Amid all the sarcasm, we need a sound voice to remind us how to be a good Samaritan. Enter Yoko Ono, partner of the late John Lennon from yes, The Beatles. Eighty-years-old but with a heart of a teenager, she shares charities addressing hunger, circulates petitions about fracking and spreads word about innovative art projects. Friday is her Q&A day, when she answers ten questions (follow #yokoQandA) about anything; from industrial food to her own music, no question irks Yoko.
@tavitulle: When you gain fame for prolific writing and quirky fashion at the age of thirteen, it’s only natural that society titles you the “voice of the generation,” as is the case for Tavi Gevinson. Editor of Rookie Mag, she tweets instructional articles on “how to bitchface,” images of “classy flowers found on hallway floor of school,” or pleas to become Blue Ivy Carter. Perhaps it’s the arbitrary scatter of her thoughts (one tweet simply read “Yolo Ono”) that appeals to her 130,000 followers, but as a sixteen-year-old student, she’s got a lot on her mind to share.
@GSElevator: You don’t need to be a Wharton student to appreciate the genius of Goldman Sachs Elevator. The byline simply reads: “Things heard in the Goldman Sachs elevators do not stay in the Goldman Sachs elevators.” And who better than an anonymous Twitter to filter thoughts of the upper-class. For example: “Pinterest is a personal assistant for middle class housewives” or “#1: Hey, do you have change for a $20? #2: $20’s are change, bro.” There’s nothing like a database of brilliance (or insults, depending on how you see it) mocking the empyreal %1.
@maudeapatow: 14-year-old Maude Apatow has found her voice. She may have famous parents Leslie Mann of “Funny People” and Jude Apatow, but she’s gained recognition for her amalgam of teenage thoughts. Maude questions why boys like the scent of cologne, whether Psy has children, and how long people will think Honey Boo Boo will last. Essentially, she takes relevant topics, condenses her thoughts into 140 chracters, and reminds us what it was like to be in grade school. Case in point: “I wonder what Dylan and Cole Sprouse have been up to.”
@manrepeller: Persian Leandra Medine built an empire with her blog, The Man Repeller. With the coined phrase “to man repel,” she’s gained a luge of loyal followers who appreciate her no-nonsense-all-individuality approach to fashion and life. Her Twitter is a goldmine of her vagrant thoughts: one day might read “Drake on drake on drake” and the next may admit that “My overalls are giving me violent camel toe.” Plus, what fashion junkie wouldn’t want to follow a gal who titles blog posts “Dries Fran Leibowitz”?
@tweenhobo: Tween Hobo is a fictional character. But that doesn’t hinder her from connecting with 12,000 followers through her pop-culture-driven and incongruous thoughts under the alias of, yes, a teenage hobo. On Superbowl weekend, for example, she tweeted, “No electricity, Beyonce in my head, American in my heart, just a regular day.” It’s the subtleties that drives her fandom, likethe phrase “The Cran-Grapes of Wrath” or ludicrous musings like, “I got off a fiscal cliff every time I go near a Claire’s.” So when you start dosing off in lecture, take a peek at Tween Hobo’s feed.