The Race for a Million Twitter Followers Ends With a Big Gift To Charity

At 2:13 am on Friday, the actor Ashton Kutcher beat out CNN to become the first Twitter user with more than 1 million followers. A notable achievement in the Twitterverse, perhaps, but an event relevant to the charity world?

Well, actually, yes. If he won, Mr. Kutcher had pledged to donate 10,000 anti-malaria bed nets as part of World Malaria Day, writes Nathaniel Whittemore on Change.org’s social entrepreneurship blog.

Mr. Whittemore wonders: Did the actor’s pledge have much to do with his victory? If his 18-year old brother is any indication, then yes.

“I’m following him. Why? He pledged 10,000 mosquito nets if he won,” wrote Mr. Whittemore’s brother.

But even more exciting than the actor’s pledge was what happened next, writes Mr. Whittemore: Mr. Kutcher started to persuade others to give. Demi Moore, Oprah, Ryan Seacrest, and CNN pledged to donate as many as 20,000 nets. P. Diddy may join them.

Sure, it’s easy to be cynical about this kind of celebrity engagement, writes Mr. Whittemore. But he says it’s also a great example of how the Web can be used to mobilize people around a good cause.

Now, the blog writers at Change.org are increasing the pressure on Mr. Kutcher. They’re asking readers to sign a petition encouraging Mr. Kutcher to help raise money for one million bed nets.