"I think I possibly prefer the connection on Twitter to actually seeing them in the flesh. When they are at the concert there are loads of girls but on Twitter if you get a tweet it's going to me and they are answering a question I have asked them, so it's more personal," she told the Independent.
"A re-tweet is better. With an autograph it's just a scribble but a re-tweet is more personal. They (the artist) have taken the time to read your tweet and re-tweet it out of a thousand."
Dr John Curran, a cultural anthropologist, said: "The retweet is better than the autograph, it says, 'We almost could share a beer together'."
Harry Potter author JK Rowling is well-known for her interaction on Twitter and often sends messages of support to fans who tweet her.
The flipside is stars open themselves up to negative interactions in the free-for-all online, although if you've got a quick wit this can also help your image.
Pop star James Blunt, who has copped a fair bit of flak over the years for his style of singing, hit back at trolls who said he had "an annoying face and a highly irritating voice," replying "and no mortgage".
When a critic said "my mum hates James Blunt" he responded: "Because I won't pay the child support?"
- nzherald.co.nz
