Who are the most popular Twittering celebrities? This article in Times Online, The 50 most popular celebs on Twitter, presents a list of famous folks whose posts have the most followers, or people signed up to read their messages.

We present the top 10 here.

1. Stephen Fry: 98616 followers (http://twitter.com/stephenfry)
“600 people went to the theatre, not to to see Oliver but to compete in a paper & chocolate wrapper rustling competition. Others came to cough.”

2. Lance Armstrong: 53813 (http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong)
“Got the Knaggs' family/kids over here at the house. 6 kids ripping around. It's madness! Luke and 5 girls. Ha! Have a good weekend everyone!”

3. Britney Spears: 53290 (http://twitter.com/britneyspears)
“I love Japan! I think all the tiny cars are so cute! –Britney”

4. Rick Sanchez: 48825 (http://twitter.com/ricksanchezcnn)
“i twitter because i need as a journalist to get what viewers think and say. w/out them i'm just another talking head.they complete me, lol!”

5. Shaquille O'Neill: 46296 (http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ)
“Anotha sleepless nite, n twitter land, aaaaaggggghhhhhhh, whyyyyyyyyyyyy”

6. John Cleese: 44142 (http://twitter.com/JohnCleese)
“Thank you everyone for the messages. Remember I am practically dead, barely functional. Your patience is appreciated. Will blog again soon”

7. Jonathan Ross: 43432 (http://twitter.com/Wossy)
“You can lead a celeb to twitter but you can't always make them tweet.”

8. Al Gore: 38351 (http://twitter.com/algore)
“I'm advocating a US goal of 100% carbon-free electricity in 10 years. If you are interested in the plan, check today's NYT op-Ed on it”

9. MC Hammer: 34042 (http://twitter.com/MCHammer)
“I appreciate all the love (tweets) of congratulations you sent to me about the Super Bowl commercial (Cash4Gold) ...it means a lot..thanks”

10. John Hodgman: 32097 (http://twitter.com/hodgman)
“Desk is clear for the first time since beginning of book tour. Apparently it is made of wood”