Twittering About Tattoos

So what does a social networking site whose premise is that you can update anyone about anything in just 140 characters or less have to do with tattooing? Well that all depends on just how you think about tattoos and Twitter.

In the obvious category, fans of the site have taken inspiration from it when it comes to design choices. There's the Twitter birdie, the Fail Whale and of course, the straight up site logo. Here are some Twitter-derived tattoos, courtesy of Bitrebels.com.

Josh Highland says if he can get 20,000 followers, he'll get a Fail Whale himself. And he promises it will be "sizeable.

The celebrity tattoo Twitter is going like gangbusters. You can check out celeb tattoo artist Kat Von D (highvoltagetat) or see whatever ink Courtney Love just got (follow @courtneylover79, you never know when the next pics might be posted).

Then there's the Twitter tattoos as social cause and fundraiser. Drew Olanoff decided to put his money and ink where his Twit was, and he auctioned off the chance for you to get your @name tattooed on him, with all proceeds benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The winner was @melaniemitchell. That was in 2009. In 2010, Drew found himself facing a battle with cancer, and decided it was worth some more ink. He turned to the tattoo-loving Twitter masses and this time the beneficiary was Livestrong. Go see the ink that won.

X Factor contestant Cher Lloyd is a tattoo fan and although the show's head judge Simon Cowell is said to be rather displeased, the singer is contemplating adding to her current ink collection. How is she said to be deciding on a design? By having her fan send her ideas via Twitter, of course...