海角大神

Twitter, it seems, was made for this.

Charlie Sheen, the actor whose voice has been virtually everywhere in rants against subjects ranging from CBS executives to Alcoholics Anonymous, now has his very own, 140-character soapbox. And the world is watching.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, when Mr. Sheen registered a new Twitter account Tuesday, he amassed one million followers faster than any other user in history 鈥� a mere 25 hours.

But is that a good thing? What happens when a man who has already been at the top of the tabloids for months for wild parties, a stint in rehab, and a series of outlandish-verging-on-nonsensical interviews gets to say anything he wants to the world, uncensored?

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been lampooned for inventing the word "refudiate" on Twitter. Musician Kanye West caused a stir by tweeting that some women get pregnant on purpose to extort money from rich performers. Many pro football players trod a fine line when they called out Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for not playing through a knee injury in the NFC Championship game.

But for Sheen, who has already said virtually everything, whatever damage can be done probably already has been done, say media experts.

鈥淎nyone who thinks going on Twitter is a bad idea for Sheen doesn鈥檛 really understand that stopping him would be like shutting the barn door three days after the herd already left,鈥� says Robert Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. 鈥淭he milk鈥檚 been spilt.鈥�

To the contrary, this is Twitter's moment of apotheosis. 鈥淭his is the perfectly logical extension of what he is already doing, and the perfect use of the tool," says Mr. Thompson. 鈥淭he whole point of Twitter 鈥� the whole reason for it 鈥� is that people make instantaneous comments that are the opposite of a well-thought essay and don鈥檛 go through the usual editing process."

Others agree that Twitter is the ideal platform for Sheen, who has seen the final four episodes of his No. 1 CBS comedy, 鈥淭wo and a Half Men,鈥� canceled, as well as his twin children removed by police after their mother won temporary custody.

鈥淗e鈥檚 turned himself into a folk hero,鈥� says Fordham University media scholar Paul Levinson, author of 鈥淣ew, New Media." 鈥淲hat started out as a guy with a drug problem fighting with his producers and family has mushroomed into something much bigger. This is now about two things: Charlie Sheen vs. the law and Charlie Sheen vs. CBS.鈥�

In his custody battle, Sheen鈥檚 side of being the mistreated celebrity 鈥� by virtue of the judge taking custody of his children late at night without recourse 鈥� is now being told, says Mr. Levinson. In his battle with CBS, Sheen is being seen as the loner taking a stand against the 鈥渂ig, corrupt network.鈥�

鈥淐learly, being on Twitter helps him get his side of the story out,鈥� adds Levinson.

So far, his side of the story has been tied to his repeated insistence that he is "winning."

鈥淲inning鈥�! Choose your Vice 鈥︹�� was his first Tweet, linked to a photo of Sheen holding a bottle of chocolate milk alongside porn star Bree Olson 鈥� one of his two, live-in girlfriends 鈥� who is holding a Naked Juice brand fruit smoothie.

On March 2, in the afternoon, he sent out another message, 鈥淪till Winning 鈥� Pong!鈥� showing the actor pointing his fingers at a wall-mounted TV .

鈥淕iven the amount of TV exposure he鈥檚 already gotten, I鈥檓 surprised the number of Twitter followers wasn鈥檛 10 times one million,鈥� says Thompson.