We’ve been early adopters from the start – we were a Facebook success story, and now we’re in the top three tweeting cities, globally, behind New York and L.A. It’s not just quantity though – we’ve got quality, too. The Globe brings you some of Toronto’s top pundits.
Name: Jonathan Goldsbie
Handle: goldsbie
No of followers: 1,282
Natural habitat: City Hall
Topic: municipal politics; public space
Loyal to few, loved and loathed in equal parts by many, Jonathan Goldsbie is a Spacing writer, a National Post commentator and a City Hall junkie. Unapologetically leftist, his kamikaze tactics and dogged persistence in uncovering what he perceives as corruption and injustice has made him a fixture on the Toronto political scene. Once in a while, this 25-year-old’s insane pedantry pays off, earning him grudging admiration from his cohorts. However, their admiration will not guarantee them immunity.
Sample Tweet: I got food poisoning the night of the 1st #cp24mayor debate. Yet I suspect tonight's, on the #G20 & taxes, will result in far more vomiting.
Name: Joey deVilla
Handle: AccordionGuy
No. of followers: 5,420
Natural habitat: Patios, karaoke bars
Topic: The funny
A self-described bon vivant, this developer is like the guy at the party everyone wants to talk to. He spreads joy in the form of amusing links (from a Bacon Space Kitty screensaver to an erotic falconry website) and funny updates. But don’t let his sunny disposition fool you: the man has clout. He’s got mad followers, and shows up at everything from Bombay Sapphire’s penthouse barbecue to Mesh U, Canada’s web conference. He’s also a rock ’n’ roll accordionist who left the Philippines during Marcos’s reign. Respect.
Sample tweet: We should let that World Cup octopus pick the method to stop the BP oil leak.
Name: Taylor Wilde
Handle: TaylorWilde
No of followers: 16,301
Natural habitat: The gym, the mat, transcontinental flights
Topic: The life of a professional female wrestler
Twitter tends to self-select for computer-geekiness. Here to break the mold, and your face, is Toronto’s own Total Nonstop Action wrestler. She is one of the most popular tweeters in the city in sheer numbers, but not because she brings the drama -- she saves that for the mat. Not just a Torontonian by name, she reads the paper, hates bike thieves and bad “artsy” Canadian movies and enjoys Frisbee in Trinity Bellwoods Park. She could also take you in a cage match in about five seconds.
Sample tweet: On my way home I decided to take a short cut through Holt Renfrew with 24 rolls of TP under my arm. All class!
Name: Lisa Tant
Handle: LisaTant
No of followers: 3,942
Natural habitat: Flare offices, red carpets, international flights
Topic: fashion
The editor-in-chief of Flare can tweet casually about meeting Dita Von Teese the same week as she confesses to doing 99 per cent of her cooking in her toaster oven. She’s funny and down-to-earth, she is capable of putting out a monthly magazine, caring for a pug and keeping up a stream of engaging tweets all the while. Amazing. She also says she loves mentoring young writers. Okay, that’s just nuts.
Sample tweet: Watching Katy Perry's Candyland-themed California Gurls video while on the treadmill is cruel & unusual punishment.
Name: Shawn Micallef
Handle: shawnmicallef
No of followers: 2,231
Natural habitat: City streets
Topic: Toronto, its streets and people
He’s our own flâneur, a bespectacled dandy who can be found reporting from all corners of the city, from Rexdale to the Gay Village to the Don Valley. His impressionistic vignettes, heavy on the dashes, bring to mind a tweeting Virginia Woolf. “He sees the city as a living book,” says former mayor David Crombie. Giving voice to the city is kind of his bag: he wrote Stroll about walking tours of Toronto.
Sample tweet: Young woman lays in street and sleeps - the sun and her amphetamines got to her - the State is on it and taking care of her - Ontario OK
MAYORAL PROSPECTS
Toronto’s would-be leaders have a strong presence on Twitter but it’s not necessarily earning them any more votes. In fact, rivals to the position have cropped up. From the city’s first mayor to a hunk of meat, here are the contenders
@RebelMayor
William Lyon Mackenzie was this city’s first mayor. Now, according to his Twitter bio, he is “back & pissed & running for Toronto mayor in 2010.” His commentary on the antics of city council gained him a small following earlier this year but his momentum seems to be winding down. Well, he is old.
“I am a rebel. I carry a musket. I drive a Prius. Still, the Annex Residents Association scares the bollocks out of me.”
@MovieMayor
Bert Xanadu doesn’t need your vote: in his world (which is permanently set to 1973) he already is mayor, as well as the owner of the Imperial Six movie theatre. His unyielding ethos positions him as a a much needed McCallion type in these uncertain times.
“Henceforth, TTC subway escalators will run at 6% of their top speed to discourage horseplay.” “I have shaken the hands of so many eager citizens today, my right hand's now claw-shaped. The better to crush my opponents with.”
@MeatloafMayor
Meatloaf Mayor rose from the ashes of the most recent mayoral debate, during which no candidate seemed to rise above the others. Following the precedent set by the Rhino Party, Meatloaf Mayor was meant to sate the civic appetite for something more nutritive than the candidates could provide.
“Write in meatloaf, if only because you can't think of anything better to pick. And you're kind of hungry.” “Vote with your brain. And your belly.”
