Game on. The race to 1 million followers on Twitter has a new player, after singer Britney Spears’ manager made it known she has joined the competition.

For those who have not heard about it, the race started earlier this week when actor Ashton Kutcher challenged cable news channel CNN to a Twitter duel, promising to ring CNN founder Ted Turner’s doorbell if he wins. Not one to shy from attention, CNN broadcaster Larry King put out a video online responding to Kutcher’s challenge. “CNN will bury you,” King vowed, as he also lectured Kutcher that Turner no longer runs CNN.

Then on Wednesday, Spears’ manager posted the following statement on her Twitter page. “Let’s get Brit across the million mark!,” he wrote. It was the equivalent of the United States joining World War I after sitting on the sidelines, because Spears is a Twitter powerhouse with more than 940,000 followers as of Thursday afternoon.

So far, Kutcher’s Twitter page sports more than 966,000 followers while CNN’s breaking news Twitter page has an impressive tally of more than 973,000 followers. 

The race goes on, but it could obscure the fact that even many avid Internet users are hardly fans of Twitter, which allows anyone to update friends and followers on the most minute aspects of their day. But it’s all for a good cause. Kutcher has pledged to donate to the Malaria No More fund if he wins, and CNN has agreed to also donate to the cause if it beats the 31-year-old actor and star of the movie “Dude, Where’s My Car?”