The rom-com actor Ashton Kutcher is locked in a battle with CNN to become the first Twitter user to have one million followers.

The two accounts are currently neck-and-neck in the race to reach the milestone. CNN has over 950,000 followers, while Kutcher has more than 940,000 followers.

Kutcher, the husband of Demi Moore, posted a call-to-arms video on YouTube urging his fans to follow him to demonstrate the power of social media over the news network.

He says in the video: “When I saw that I was approaching a million and that CNN was too, I thought this was really significant for social media. For one person to have the ability to broadcast to as many as people as a major media network, I think signifies the turning of the tide from traditional news outlets to social news outlets.

“Because with our video cameras on our cell-phones, on our picture cams, with our blogging, with our twittering and our posting and our Facebook accounts we actually become the sources of the news, and the broadcasters of the news and the consumers of the news. We have the potential on this day to turn the tide.”

CNN presenter Larry King has posted a comeback on YouTube declaring: “Are you kidding, do you think you can take on an entire network, do you know how big we are, do you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you’re playing out of your field. CNN will bury you.”

Kutcher, star of Dude Where’s My Car? and What Happens in Vegas, has promised to donate 10,000 mosquito nets to fight malaria in developing countries if he gets one million followers. Computer gaming giant EA has backed his campaign, offering the millionth follower the chance to appear as a character in the latest Sims game, and a free copy of each of the games it releases in 2009.

The CNN account is a news feed of the company’s stories, while Kutcher’s is a combination of daily musings about his life, messages to wife Moore, and links to news stories with the actor’s commentary.

Twitter users sent ‘Ashton Kutcher’ to the top of the trending topics in Twitter as they discussed his bid.

One posted: “Ashton Kutcher is racing CNN to become the 1st Twitter with 1m followers. If either win, the entire internet loses.”

Top five Twitterers with the most followers:

1. CNN: www.twitter.com/cnnbrk

2. Ashton Kutcher: www.twitter.com/aplusk

3. Britney Spears: twitter.com/britneyspears

4. The Ellen Show: twitter.com/theellenshow

5. Twitter: twitter.com/twitter

Source: twitterholic.com

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