Twit Relief gathering pace as celebs promise 'superfollows' for charity

Celebrities auctioning themselves for charity is so last decade. On-trend in 2011 is auctioning off their Twitter fame. That's the idea behind Twit Relief, an offshoot from UK charity Comic Relief, which is gathering pace on eBay in advance of this Friday's TV telethon.

More than 100 celebs are taking part, promising to 'superfollow' their highest bidders, which means following them (virtually, obviously), mentioning them and retweeting them. The calibre is strong, too, with the likes of Simon Pegg (around 928,000 followers), Jonathan Ross (917,000), Davina McCall (552,000), JLS (310,000) and Leona Lewis (179,000) all taking part.

In a way, it's a popularity auction that'll show us and them which celebrities are most popular with the public. It's no surprise that many are offering sweeteners to persuade us they're worth bidding for.

Ruby Wax will let you watch her have botox, for example, while DJ Christian O'Connell will invite you on to his breakfast radio show as a guest. Alexa Chung will hand over a trendy bag, Emma Freud is offering a walk-on part in the next Richard Curtis movie, and Curtis himself is promising to join Twitter solely for the purpose of following his winning bidder.

Bidding is off to a strong start, with Freud, McFly, actress Emma Kennedy and The Gadget Show's Jason Bradbury all soaring past the £2,000 mark. There are bargains to be had too, though. At the time of writing, Mary Byrne (you know, off X Factor) is going for just £100, comedian Josie Lawrence is a mere £169 and comic actress Sharon Horgan is a scarcely credible £250.

Brilliantly, Aardman Animation's Jim Parkyn has attracted over £1,500 -- although we rather suspect that's because his superfollow includes an actual Morph.

With three days to go, expect prices to rise considerably though, especially if the stars start to get competitive.