"I like to keep my Twitter very personal and used as a random outlet for my feelings," Deen said. "I see no reason to be involved except to be myself."

Despite his non-commercial approach to Twitter, he said being an effective tweeter is an essential part of his business.

"The way the world is going, you have to be able to communicate with your market, know about your demographic, know what people are clicking on and then communicate back to them," Deen said.

The Internet's Girlfriend: @danadearmond

Dana DeArmond describes herself as a "pornographer of the people" and is one of the most accessible adult performers on Twitter. She responds to most of her followers who post a comment or question, often with a smart-alecky remark.

"People like to laugh and they like to know that people who are sex workers can also be smart and funny," said DeArmond, who occasionally performs stand-up comedy around Los Angeles.

DeArmond, 33, says the porn world is extremely competitive and she uses Twitter to differentiate herself from other performers by interacting directly with her fans.

"I've developed the moniker 'the Internet's girlfriend' and tried to make a more personal connection with the people who found me and followed me," she said. .

"It's something I've used in my branding. It's like 'OK, if you don't have a real girlfriend you can pretend I'm your girlfriend on the Internet and I won't treat you like a customer.' That's how I brand myself."

DeArmond describes the porn industry as an "ever-changing animal": viewers' relationship with the product and their expectations of the performers are "constantly evolving and now requires a much more personal approach by performers."

"Porn is not a utilitarian thing; if it were there would already have been enough porn made forever," she said. "People have a connection to it and Twitter helps me make that connection."

The Smartest Woman in Porn: @Kayden_Kross

Perhaps the most surprising porn figure to emerge on Twitter is Kayden Kross. With her dyed blonde hair and pouty lips she certainly looks the part of an adult film star. When she's not making porn movies, Kross tweets about her very non-pornographic passions: books and horses.

"People seem to be surprised with the things I'm into," she told CNN.

She often tweets about her favorite authors, David Foster Wallace and Don DeLillo. Between shoots in the San Fernando Valley, she travels to New York where she is taking a series of writing classes with legendary editor Gordon Lish, noted for his work with authors Raymond Carver and Richard Ford.

"The porn people could care less who I'm reading," Kross said. "I have a slim sliver of fans based on a common passion for books and the written word. Those are who I interact with."

She is working on a novel set in the world of porn and posts essays on her website and tweets them out to her followers.

"If you're interacting with people, you're putting part of your soul into it," she said. "The people that understand me the best are people into writing."

Back in Los Angeles, Kross enjoys spending time with her horses. In April, her mare Regina gave birth and Kross tweeted throughout the process, posting pictures and even asking her followers to help name the foal. Despite the situation having nothing to do with her porn life, her Twitter followers were with her all the way, tweeting congratulations and piping in with suggestions for names. She ultimately settled on the name Maya.

Although many of her tweets are on her hobbies, Kross says that Twitter has been the key to her success in the porn world.

"I was largely unsuccessful up until Twitter came along because I'm very shy ... and it came through in my movies," she said. "But with Twitter, people see a different side of me and they see it in my movies."

Twitter allows Kross to defy people's preconceived notions of what porn stars are like and be more comfortable both on camera and off.

"Twitter has made me more confident as a person and a performer," she said.