Student followed by Kanye West: Twitter fame 'not worth it'

Student followed by Kanye West: Twitter fame 'not worth it' | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Coventry teenager tells local paper he wants to keep a low profile after attracting more than 3,000 new followers

Steven Holmes: 'The funny thing is I like [Kanye West's] music but I'm not his biggest fan'

The Coventry teenager thrown unwittingly into social media stardom has spoken out about being the only person followed by rap star Kanye West on Twitter.

Speaking exclusively to his local newspaper, student Steven Holmes admitted: "The funny thing is I like his music but I'm not his biggest fan."

Holmes has attracted more than 3,000 new followers on the popular social network since his endorsement from one of the world's best-known music stars. But the whole situation appears to have proved too much for the unassuming university student.

"Before this weekend I thought it would be cool to have a celebrity following me on Twitter but now I think it's really not worth it," he told the Coventry Telegraph.

And the global news organisations knocking on his door can forget about speaking to him, too. He said: "I didn't want to talk to any of them. Fame has never appealed to me. It's vacuous."

Kanye West is on the way to 500,000 Twitter followers after signing up late last month. It is not yet known why the 33-year-old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia, opted to follow only the West Midlands teenager.

"I just commented on something on Kanye West's account and next thing I know he's following me," he said. "I was like, 'Oh my God!', but about 20 seconds later I had 20 messages from people I didn't even know and my phone wouldn't stop bleeping."

Holmes even took to deleting the Twitter application from his iPhone to put an end to the avalanche of comments from music fans and journalists.

But the interest didn't subside, Holmes later posting: "This has been completely surreal and I really have no desire for this attention I'm just a normal person." He added: "I won't be speaking to anybody else, surprisingly not everyone wants to be famous. That's all I'm saying – peace out x."

Kanye West began following Holmes on Saturday evening after the teenager commented on a picture he posted on the social networking site.

Surprised, as is only natural when singled out by a global megastar, Holmes tweeted: "Holy shit bro thx for following!". West replied: "You are the chosen one dun dun dun dun."

Holmes now seems to be lying low on Twitter, not updating his status for about 24 hours and apparently waiting for the instant stardom to subside.

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