News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch joins Twitter

News Corp chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch appears to have joined Twitter.

A verified account using the @rupertmurdoch handle was launched on Sunday, with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey immediately welcoming the media baron to the site.

"With his own voice, in his own way, @RupertMurdoch is now on Twitter," Mr Dorsey tweeted.

If genuine - as it appears to be - it is Mr Murdoch's first personal foray into social networking.

He is no stranger to the genre, with News Corp having previously owned rival social networking site MySpace.

The @rupertmurdoch account was launched with eight tweets on widely different subjects.

The first, with faltering grammar, recommended Matt Ridley's book on human advancement, The Rational Optimist.

"Have just. Read The Rational Optimist. Great book," he wrote.

There followed tweets about the Steve Jobs biography, spending time with his daughters and forthcoming George Clooney movie, The Descendants.

"Saw Fox film Descendants. Thank God, one to be proud of. Star Geo Clooney deserves Oscar, maybe film too,'' one tweet said.

It immediately set tongues wagging online, with few doubting the veracity of the account.

Former British tabloid editor Piers Morgan wrote: "It is (genuine), and you can tell by the tweets he's doing it himself ... Twitter consensus is the @rupertmurdoch account is genuine."

As of Sunday night the @rupertmurdoch account had almost 15,000 followers.

A spokesperson for News Corp could not be contacted.

- AAP