CSMonitor editors share their favorite people to follow on Twitter

4. Culture: Mindy Kaling and Stephen Colbert

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Mindy Kaling on Twitter

Since it's inception, the Twitterverse has been a hub of pop culture and comedy. Comedian Mindy Kaling and satarist Stephen Colbert are among the funniest on Twitter, according to Culture blog editor Molly Driscoll (@mollydriscoll).

Ms. Kaling, who is also an actor and writer, is perhaps best known for her role as Kelly Kapoor on the “Office,” and her Fox TV show “The Mindy Project.” But the celebrity also has a strong fan base on Twitter, with more than 2 million followers.

Whether you want updates on "The Mindy Project" or just appreciate Kaling's sense of humor about love and daily life, Kaling is the go-to girl.

“The former ‘Office’ star’s frequently updated Twitter account offers musings on everything from living in Los Angeles, the best romcoms, occasional backstage peeks at ‘Mindy’ production, and so much more,” says Ms. Driscoll.
 
Kaling’s account is full of quotables. Take, for example, a tweet from March 15, when she wrote “So my type is Joffrey Baratheon and Draco Malfoy.”
 
One of her most popular tweets is from Jan. 3, 2012: “The whole airplane rule of ‘put on your oxygen mask on first, then help the person next to you,’ is a great metaphor for life.”
 
And then there’s July 2: “I don’t care I’m still going to make a run at Anderson Cooper.”

In an interview with Fast Company, Kaling said she prefers to use Twitter for thank you notes and other personal exchanges.

"Twitter is basically a more playful way to text a friend," she said.

Mr. Colbert also has a large following on Twitter. In fact, his personal account has much more followers than the account for “The Colbert Report” TV show does (4.6 million versus 425,000).
 
“Some of his political jokes may alienate those who don’t agree with him, but many of the ‘Colbert Report’ host’s tweets, which seem to be the overflow of jokes he didn’t have time to use for his weeknight news show, are pretty funny no matter what your political belief,” Driscoll says.
 
One of her favorite tweets includes a comment Colbert made about Pope Francis on Feb. 26: “I bet he’s got a serious case of Monsignoritis.”
 
Mr. Colbert was on Rolling Stone magazine’s list called "The 25 Funniest People on Twitter" in September. His “primo tweet,” according to Rolling Stone, was on Aug. 8, when he tweeted “If women are breadwinners and men bring home the bacon, why do people complain about having no dough? I’m confused. Also hungry.”

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