Film stars do it, teenagers do it and now even MPs are falling head over heels in love with Twitter.

They spend 1,000 hours a year chatting to constituents, friends and even complete strangers on the social networking site. In one week alone this summer, MPs tapped out nearly 2,500 ‘tweets’.

According to new research, the politicians spend the equivalent of almost one day a week sending out the messages of no more than 140 characters. The survey by a political lobbying firm found that 275 out of 650 MPs are tweeting, including Labour leader Ed Miliband.

And research by The Mail on Sunday reveals that Mr Miliband’s party dominates the Twitter Top 10, which is made up of six Labour MPs, three Tories and just one Liberal Democrat.

Topping the list are Bristol MP Kerry McCarthy and Glasgow South’s Tom Harris – who have both tweeted well over 20,000 times.

Mr Harris, 47, said: ‘People like to know that MPs are human and have interests outside politics. I don’t just tweet about politics. I do it about family, TV, normal things like that.’

But Tory MP Brian Binley, a committed non-tweeter, said: ‘I just cannot see the point. I’ve never had a constituent come to me and say, “Why aren’t you blogging or tweeting?” ’

At least Northampton MP Mr Binley, 69, has the backing of the Prime Minister on his aversion to Twitter.

Two years ago, David Cameron famously made clear he was no fan when he unguardedly told a radio station that ‘the trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – [is that] too many twits might make a tw*t’. He later apologised for his language.

Westminster Public Affairs, which conducted the Twitter survey, said parliamentary tweeters fell into two camps – obsessives who tweeted all the time and ‘lurkers’ who only occasionally sent out a message.

Last night, Olly Kendall, director of Westminster Public Affairs, said tweeting helped MPs ‘humanise’ themselves.

‘Some of the unguarded moments of honesty reveal a side to them that most people don’t usually see – humorous, self-deprecating and down-right ordinary.’

Mr Kendall added: ‘The savvy MPs use Twitter not just to propagate party spin but to engage in an honest and open dialogue and to let constituents get to know them as people as well as for their political views.’

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)