Not THE David Tennant
 One of these is a celebrity, the other is a prankster civilian |
To some they are satirists, wittily sending up the people in the public eye. To others they are a pain in the neck, tricking genuine fans.
We are well used to hearing about how the rise of social networking sites has enabled us to communicate and spread our identity across the internet. But social networking has also spawned its own version of identity theft - people pretending to be celebrities.
Lisa Valentine is one of them. Search for Doctor Who star David Tennant on Twitter and the first result you call up is a feed called THEDavidTennant.
 |  Had a drink with Matt Smith, he was crying into his shandy about not being as good as me. I told him to shut up and get the round in  Tweet from THEDavidTennant |
On the feed, David Tennant ridicules his successor Matt Smith and spends his time talking about having Paul Daniels as Davros in a celebrity special.
But it's not really David Tennant, it's Ms Valentine. She's just having a laugh.
"I made him into an egotistical womanising character who is obsessed with his own status from Doctor Who."
While to somebody taking a two-second glance, Ms Valentine's feed might appear to be that of Tennant, she assumed from the ridiculous nature of the tweets the Twitter-using public would realise it was all a joke.
| Just to let you all know that David Tennant does NOT use Twitter. There is someone impersonating him on here so please don't contact them! Tweet from official davidtennantcom |
Many didn't.
"I was getting requests for autographs and to say hello to their sons."
Worried, Ms Valentine contacted everybody who sent messages to her, making absolutely clear that she was not Tennant. She also contacted David Tennant's "people".
"I made the entries more and more ridiculous. They are surely not going to believe he goes to eat in McDonald's wearing a kilt."
But there were still some followers who didn't realise it was a joke.
She then made it clear on her feed that she was not David Tennant.
"Some people wanted me to say hello to their sons anyway," she says.
Obviously there are two different categories of online faker. Those who are genuinely seeking to trick people, whether for financial gain or other nefarious reasons are in one camp. Those having a stab at humour are in another.
Stern warning
Ms Valentine's ambitions are definitely in the latter - a point made clear from the nature of the entries, that this was not really the star speaking.
But the BBC was sufficiently concerned over the general phenomenon of Tennant impersonation to issue a warning.
"There have been several recent cases of people posing as David Tennant and other members of the Doctor Who cast in internet chat rooms and forums - as well as setting up social networking profiles in their names.
| Tennant is a very appealing and popular public figure. Why does that image need subverting? John O'FarrellNewsbiscuit |
"So fans are not disappointed or misled, we'd like to point out that both David Tennant and incoming Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith do not use social networking websites, chatrooms or forums. They wouldn't want fans to think that anyone who uses these are talking to the real actors."
Ms Valentine hopes no-one is going to mind too much about her efforts to amuse.
"I do hope they have a sense of humour. They know I'm not a threat."
But is this really satire? Comedian John O'Farrell, editor of website Newsbiscuit, suggests not all the humorous celebrity impostors are really acting in the true spirit of satire.
"They are pretending to be satirical. They are actually getting off on the fame, vicariously enjoying celebrity.
"[Tennant] is a very appealing and popular public figure. Why does that image need subverting? There is a role for satire on social networks but it needs to be aimed at the powerful and pompous."
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