Some porn stars have tens of thousands of Twitter followers. A new article claims the industry is finally cottoning to social media.

If you don't think that porn stars want to have any direct connection with their fans, think again. While they may not invite fans over to their houses, many adult stars seem to be very, very fond of developing relationships--digitally, at least--via Twitter.

That's what a story in the Daily Beast argues. Titled "Why porn stars love Twitter," the article suggests that hundreds of adult film actresses have turned to Twitter as a way to give the impression of being accessible to fans.

This, the article says, despite years of the adult industry being slow to adopt social media, in part because "porn stars have traditionally been marketed as figures of unattainable fantasy" and because "the company owners and agents who run the industry originally doubted the value in sharing with fans the mundane details and drama of real life."

But now, the Daily Beast says, "after [hundreds of] individual porn stars built huge followings on Twitter, the industry has belatedly learned the value of social media: Porn stars love Twitter."

An example of why the industry is cuddling up to Twitter comes in the experience of 29-year-old porn star Courtney Cummings, the story reports. Cummings (NSFW Twitter profile), who as of this writing had 52,130 Twitter followers, mostly seems to tweet links to pictures of herself in action, as well as information about how to arrange private Skype sessions. She calls her followers her "babies" and told the Daily Beast that though the mucky-mucks in the adult industry have been slow to adopt social media, "the industry is just now learning how supportive my babies are when I go somewhere, do a Web show, or make a film."

Not all porn stars see the Twitter attraction though. Even some who have tens of thousands of followers apparently don't see the professional benefit. The Daily Beast quoted her as saying that despite having more than 30,000 followers, adult star Dana DeArmond has not gotten any new work because of her fervent Twitter fan base.

Perhaps even more interesting, the article reports, is a growing forum among porn stars themselves on Twitter. Tweeting insults has become common, and some stars have had to quickly retract things they posted in 140 characters or less. "You put something out on Twitter," Cummz told the Daily Beast, and "now the entire industry knows."