Apple turns to Twitter to promote iTunes music, podcasts, more

Though it has long been a company that shied away from social media, Apple has recently decided to further embrace Twitter to promote new content on iTunes.

As first noted by TechCrunch, Apple recently registered a number of Twitter accounts to advertise movies, music, TV and podcasts on iTunes. The Cupertino, Calif., company started its first official account, iTunesTrailer, in March, and now has nearly 1.2 million followers.

The new iTunesMusic, iTunesMovies, iTunesTV and iTunesPodcasts accounts only have a few tweets and thousands of followers between them.

The iTunesMovies account tweeted over the weekend to promote the movie "Away We Go," written by Dave Eggers. Eggers is the co-writer of last weekend's top movie, the Spike Jonze adaptation of the classic children's book "Where the Wild Things Are."

The music account states it will provide "official music updates for the U.S. iTunes Store, including new releases, pre-orders, iTunes LP, exclusive offers and more."

The podcast page is used to promote the Podcast Episode of the Day. It has 2,029 followers and 42 tweets so far.

The smallest account, iTunesTV, has 422 followers but has yet to register its first tweet.

Apple has cross-promoted the Twitter accounts, with a background that advertises to the other iTunes-related pages. Visitors are also asked to support the iTunes fan page on Facebook.

Earlier this year, rumors surfaced that Apple might be interested in acquiring Twitter in an all-cash deal. The Web site has gained a considerable amount of buzz and users this year as celebrities have made the site their home for personal updates. However, the rumor never came to be.