According to reports Ashton Kutcher, the most followed individual on Twitter, is thinking of closing his account. His reason? He fears that a planned Twitter TV show could encourage civilians to stalk celebrities like Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore.

Whilst I obviously don’t condone stalking in any way, I have to say that this news, if it really qualifies as that, has had me chuckling. Here’s why.

• Ashton Kutcher’s celebrity has been boosted by two things: his marriage and his use of Twitter. Apart from that he’s just another talentless MTV presenter who’s made a couple of shite films.
• He’s more than happy to use his connection to the site to boost his profile further: whilst his appearance on Oprah, with Twitter co-founder Ev, was aimed at generating publicity for his charity, it certainly didn’t hurt his own profile – would he really have had a reason to go on if not for his (fixed) battle with CNN to be the first to gain 1 million Twitter followers? I don’t think so either.
• He claimed that Twitter is important because “We now live in an age in media that a single voice can have as much power and relevance on the Web, that is, as an entire media network”. Unless of course no-one else is listening. How many people do the likes of Ashton, Demi & Oprah follow? 285 (4 million), 118 (2.4 million) & 17 (2.8 million) respectively – the numbers in brackets are the number of followers they currently have. Real social guys.
• He may not want to be stalked but he’s more than happy to tweet photos of his wife bending over in a bikini. As if there’s anyone left alive in the western world who hasn’t seen Demi wearing much less than a pair of knickers.
• I was here before aplusk, and I’ll be here long after he’s gone.

Anyway, we’ll see if he really means it or if he’s just doing a Fry. I have to say that whilst I was glad Stephen Fry changed his mind, I’m rather hoping Ashton & Demi don’t.

Photo of Demi’s arse by, yes, Ashton Kutcher via Celebsport.