Wendy Rosenfield is a fantastic arts critic based in Philadelphia, and she’s taken a brief break from her daily rounds at her blog Drama Queen to tell us about her persistent fascination with the Twitter habits of Fred “Limp Bizkit” Durst.

Take it away, Wendy!

Fred Durst is on Twitter (@FredDurst).
Whatever you think of that statement speaks volumes about who you are as a social media-sucking entity. If you’re on Twitter, and not too young to recognize the name, your reaction is probably to say, “Huh,” and then follow him. If you’re not on Twitter, your reaction is probably to say, “I thought we got rid of that dude somewhere between Britney (@BritneySpears) and Paris.”

Well, we did, and the rock-rap genre has suffered mightily as a result. But on Twitter, a softer, maybe even chastened Durst has emerged, one entirely separate from rock-rap, pole dancer theme songs and stickin’ it up your yeah.

Sometimes he complains about L.A. traffic. Sometimes he quotes Cypress Hill… or Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes he jokes around with Ashton (@APlusK) and Demi (@MrsKutcher), and since none of them have protected their updates, they’re practically begging you to listen in. There’s even a fake Fred Durst already (@FakeFredDurst), whose first tweet said succinctly, elegantly, “Breaking Stuff.”
I follow Fred Durst because everyone on Twitter–no exceptions–is both straight up voyeur and exhibitionist. Don’t believe me? MC Hammer (@MCHammer)–who though he’s no longer making gold records, is now the Twitter gold standard–has something like 44,000 people who regularly tune into borderline personality revelations that swing from “The God of Silver and Gold has been placed in supernatural chains and removed from his throne…” to “Nice dinner at Mr. Chows and now it’s time to Socialize !!! ….. People!” Maybe you can’t touch this, but you can sure take a peek inside. Still not convinced? How’s this: LeVar Burton (@LeVarBurton) was just tweeting about wanting Mashable to update their list of celebrities using Twitter. I don’t know if that’s really sad or really funny, but I do find it comforting in an US Weekly, “Stars Are Just Like Us,” kind of way.
On Twitter, you can’t hear Durst whine, you can’t see how he’s doing his facial hair, you don’t even have to listen to Limp Bizkit. (@LimpBizkit). (Although, here’s a 26th Random Fact about Me [@WendyRosenfield]–the first 25 are on my Facebook page–I used to think their bassist [@WesBorland], you know, the one who dressed up in skeleton costumes and wore freaky contact lenses, and left the band for some prog-jazz side project, was hot. And though he hasn’t posted a single update yet, he already has around 500 followers just waiting.)

Perhaps due to its innate brevity, Twitter is the perfect forum for a guy like Durst, or at least for the public persona of the guy who wore out his welcome so quickly. Plus, he’s not in the throes of a comeback, he’s not shilling anything, and doesn’t have a dating contest in the works. Here, he’s almost understated, a gentleman.
On Twitter, it’s just Fred Durst telling you about his day and waiting patiently for your reply. On Twitter, unlike anywhere else on earth, I want to know what Fred Durst has to say. “Do something fervent after dinner?” Okay Fred, I will.