News Corp's Rupert Murdoch joins Twitter social network

Twitter has added media mogul Rupert Murdoch to its ranks. Within three days his @rupertmurdoch account attracted over 45,000 followers. But reaction to the 80-year-old chairman and chief executive of News Corporation's Twitter presence has been mixed. In a tweet Rupert Murdoch noted: "I'm getting killed for fooling around here and friends frightened what I may really say." Among those sending jovial reminders of current controversies, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott tweeted, "Welcome to Twitter...@rupertmurdoch. I've left you a Happy New Year message on my voicemail!" The comment referred to the phone-hacking scandal which had resulted in the closure of the News of The World. Keeping positive Mr Murdoch has received advice on how to tweet, from a new unverified account written under the name of Wendi Deng, his wife. It said: "trying to explain to @rupertmurdoch that twitter is about following not just being followed. sharing and chatting and tweeting." However, Rupert Murdoch initially chose to follow only four people, including Amstrad founder Lord Sugar who tweeted: "I wonder if my old pal @rupertmurdoch is eying up Twitter to buy or invest in it. He missed out on Facebook, and My Space.. not a great deal". Mr Murdoch also follows Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, Twitter's executive chairman Jack Dorsey, and a spoof account purporting to be from Google's chief executive Larry Page. Rupert Murdoch's tweets have already covered a diverse range of topics. One described the Steve Jobs biography as "interesting but unfair", while another praised the movie, We Bought a Zoo, which is distributed by News Corp's 20th Century Fox. After a difficult 2011 Rupert Murdoch also chose to take a positive view of the year ahead, wishing his followers: "Happy 2012. May it be better than all experts predict. Has to be!"