A cut in the number of journalists being sent by official media organisations means venue directors are looking for other forms of positive publicity, and hope tech-savvy comedy-fans will wax lyrical about what they have seen on the social networking site.
A team of dedicated web developers, together with digital agency Blonde, have launched Edtwinge, a system that compiles tweets into a list of the best Fringe shows by providing a snapshot of what people are talking about.
It will search through thousands of entries on Twitter and produce a ratings system based on "noise and karma" -- namely the volume of interest and whether comments are positive or negative.
Edtwinge will compile a top 10 listing for the acts scoring highest for noise and karma in seven categories -- comedy, music, dance, musicals and operas, events, children's and exhibitions.
It is hoped word of mouth and viral interaction on the internet will give a boost to audience numbers.
One producer, John Simpson, is reported to have called for more personalised reviews "as it is far more refreshing to read than that of a seasoned journalist".
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