No, That’s Not Bono on Twitter

Earlier today, a friend pointed me to this Twitter account and suggested that it might be the real Bono on Twitter. I checked it out, and the tweets (messages) looked real enough. But there were a couple oddities: Bono never uses “Paul Hewson” anymore and wouldn’t need to on Twitter; he could easily contact Twitter and get them to give him the @Bono account that someone else is currently holding (but not using). And two, why would Bono be following Dolly Parton?!?

I checked with U2’s PR folks, and the answer is “No”, that’s not the real Bono.*

If you’re curious, there’s also an @paul_hewson account on Twitter which is also not the real Bono. (There is an @fakebono account, which is obviously not real.)

The only two official U2-related Twitter accounts are, as far as we know:

• @360FromTheEdge — this is Edge’s account
• @U2_360Tour — this is someone we believe to be associated with the band, but don’t know exactly who; this account was on the road with U2 for much of last year’s European Tour

And, of course, @U2 and many of our staffers are on Twitter, too. You can see our list of Twitter usernames on the main site.

(*Admittedly, there’s a chance the PR folks don’t want us and the world to know if that’s really Bono, but why? Plus, they’ve never … never misled us in the past.)

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