Anne Curtis on Time’s smartest celebs list
MANILA, Philippines–Strange but true.
Actress-TV host Anne Curtis has gone from being “AnneBisyosa” and “AnneKapal” to landing on Time Magazine’s list of “50 Smartest Celebrities on Twitter”—ranking No. 28—which the American weekly news magazine published on Wednesday.
The list had American actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio as the sharpest and brainiest celebrity on the microblogging site Twitter. According to Time, DiCaprio, with 10.5 million followers, scored higher than the rest with a “grade level” of 7.5 when judged by a commonly used reading comprehension test.
The report added that 33 percent of tweets test at a fourth-grade reading level. Curtis, who has 6.6 million followers, tweets at a grade level of 6.2.
Time made use of a reading comprehension test known as Simple Measure of Gobbledygook or Smog, which “measures the number of three-syllable words used in a text to calculate the years of education required to understand it.”
“An environmentalist activist, DiCaprio often tweets about ‘conservation’ and global warming which may have helped him earn the top spot,” Time observed.
Time said that of more than 1 million tweets, it has found that messages on Twitter average a fourth-grade reading level. “All of the celebrities [on the list] exceed that grade,” Time pointed out. It analyzed the last 20 tweets of the celebrities included on its previously released list of “500 Highest Followed Celebrities,” then ran the results through the Smog test to calculate reading level.
Only Asian actress
Time noted that Smog was intended for processing only English, “so users tweeting in multiple languages were removed. Computer processing of natural language has its limitations. For example, the Smog test can falsely read slang as multisyllable words.”
Curtis and Indian film actor Akshay Kumar were the only Asian artists who figured on the list. Kumar, who has 5.2 million followers, ranked 25th place. He tweets at a grade level of 6.2.
Curtis used “AnneBisyosa” (a play on ambisyosa or ambitious) and “AnneKapal” (meaning overconfident) as titles of her sold-out concerts at Araneta Coliseum in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
‘Wonderful surprise’
On Thursday, Curtis posted this in reaction to the news on Time, along with the link to the article: “What a wonderful surprise to wake up to! Good morning!”
After the onslaught of Typhoon “Glenda” on Wednesday night, the star of the TV series “Dyesebel” posted this reminder to her supporters: “Finally! Done [with work]! On my way home! So much debris on the road! Unless it’s absolutely necessary that you leave the house, stay indoors!”
The next morning, she greeted them with a tweet that said: “Woke up to see that everything has calmed down. Hope everyone is OK. Off to work again for ‘Dyesebel’ today!”
The ABS-CBN fantasy-adventure series, where Curtis plays a mermaid, will air its final episode tonight. Curtis posted this last night: “Catch the last two nights of ‘Dyesebel…’ Shooting with rain and wind is a struggle for a mermaid! So be sure to catch the last two episodes that we shot with love and passion for our show kahit bumabagyo (even with the typhoon).”
2nd to DiCaprio
Pattie Mallete, mother of controversial Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, placed second to DiCaprio. She has 3.2 million followers on Twitter and tweets with a grade level of 7.3.
American comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who has 4.1 million followers, is the third smartest celebrity on the list. He tweets like a seventh grader, Time said.
Rapper and actor Ludacris, or Christopher Brian Bridges in real life, ranked fourth. He has 9.4 followers and tweets at a grade level of 6.8. On the fifth spot is the American punk rock band Green Day, with 3.3 million followers. The group likewise tweets at a grade level of 6.8.
The list also featured actors Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, singers Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Usher, Ricky Martin and Eminem and novelists Paulo Coelho and J. K. Rowling, among others.
RELATED STORY
Anne Curtis is one of ‘50 smartest stars’ on Twitter
