By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 06:55 EST, 14 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:47 EST, 15 September 2013 . The majority of most people's Twitter followers are merely cyber strangers, known only through the digital text of 140 characters. But one user of the social networking site decided he wanted to get to know his online chums a little more - and set himself the challenge of tracking down and meeting them face-to-face. Glaswegian magician and writer Declan Dineen, 32, was whiling away a boring Saturday afternoon when he came up with his fun idea. Mission: Declan Dineen set out to meet his cyber friends on Twitter - and has taken snaps with 150 of them . Idle thought: Declan, 32, came up with the idea in January but didn't think much of it . Conjurer: The Glaswegian magician had 170 followers at the time and set about filtering out spam followers . True friends: He worked out he had 150 'real' followers and started meeting them in his home city . Snowball: Before long he found himself booking train tickets all over the country to meet far-flung followers . Snap happy: Soon Declan found himself travelling further and further south . Beaming: After passing through the Midlands he made his way to the south coast . Racking up the miles: He was determined to continue the quirky quest and headed to the West Country . Shining light: One of the highlights of his mammoth journey was meeting followers in his native Wales . But what started as an idle thought turned into a full-blown mission - and he has so far met up with and been photographed with nearly 150 of his followers, travelling the length and breadth of the country in the process. The story of his quirky quest has gone viral and he has been featured on TV and in papers around the world. Declan told MailOnline: 'It has been absolutely mental - I knew there would be some interest but not to this level. It literally started out as a bit of fun - there was no intelectual rigour involved in the process at all.' Pleasant surprise: Declan said every single one of the followers was 'incredibly nice' Who are you again? Declan admitted many of the followers had no idea why they were following him . Performer: But some discovered Declan after his gigs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival . First meeting: Most people looked utterly thrilled to put a face to the name when they met Declan . Heading north again: After finishing in Wales, Declan started the long rail trip back to Scotland . Connection: 'The beauty of Twitter is that you can really shape your account and follow like-minded people,' said Declan . Risk: But he says his mission highlighted just how much information people are willing to share online . High spirits: Declan met a lot of people in their homes but also had a few nights in the pub . That bit of fun started in January when he had 270 followers. After filtering out some of the 'spam' followers, he realised there were 150 people to meet, and set about the task, first starting in Glasgow and Edinburgh before booking a raft of train tickets and trundling around the country. Over two weeks, he visited 17 cities, including Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby, Manchester, Brighton, Exeter and Cardiff, while he contacted his overseas followers over Skype. 'Everyone I met was incredibly nice, there were no nutters,' he said. 'But I think that's the beauty of Twitter, you have a lot of control over who you connect with and most were like-minded, although quite a few had no idea why they were connected with me.' Memorable nights: Declan met a number of characters on the trip, including this Elvis lookalike, right . Taken aback: Little did Declan imagine the stir his mission would cause and his story hit the world stage this week . 'Mental': After the story broke in Scotland, his followers doubled to more than 300 . Off the scale: After the tale was picked up by national television he passed 12,000 followers . Foul play: Declan suspects the majority of his new followers sprung up due to a hacker . Career changer: Such has been the interest, Declan is thinking of writing a stage sketch about his experience . No stopping him: And he says he will continue trying to meet as many of his new followers as possible . Foreign trip: Declan says he may even have to start flying abroad to meet some of his followers . After the media picked up on his odyssey last week, his followers doubled before exploding to more than 12,000, although he suspects he may have been hacked. Despite this, the interest has been such that he has decided to make a show about his experience. 'I really had planned to stop at 150 and that would be that,' he said. 'But I think I will now carry it on, meeting a few more for my blog every month. I think it will make for a pretty good sketch.'
Declan Dineen, 32, from Glasgow, has travelled the country meeting 150 of his followers .
Journey has taken in 20 cities across Britain and his story has gone viral .
He now has 12,000 followers - and plans to tell his tale in a new stage show .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 06:55 EST, 14 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:47 EST, 15 September 2013 . The majority of most people's Twitter followers are merely cyber strangers, known only through the digital text of 140 characters. But one user of the social networking site decided he wanted to get to know his online chums a little more - and set himself the challenge of tracking down and meeting them face-to-face. Glaswegian magician and writer Declan Dineen, 32, was whiling away a boring Saturday afternoon when he came up with his fun idea. Mission: Declan Dineen set out to meet his cyber friends on Twitter - and has taken snaps with 150 of them . Idle thought: Declan, 32, came up with the idea in January but didn't think much of it . Conjurer: The Glaswegian magician had 170 followers at the time and set about filtering out spam followers . True friends: He worked out he had 150 'real' followers and started meeting them in his home city . Snowball: Before long he found himself booking train tickets all over the country to meet far-flung followers . Snap happy: Soon Declan found himself travelling further and further south . Beaming: After passing through the Midlands he made his way to the south coast . Racking up the miles: He was determined to continue the quirky quest and headed to the West Country . Shining light: One of the highlights of his mammoth journey was meeting followers in his native Wales . But what started as an idle thought turned into a full-blown mission - and he has so far met up with and been photographed with nearly 150 of his followers, travelling the length and breadth of the country in the process. The story of his quirky quest has gone viral and he has been featured on TV and in papers around the world. Declan told MailOnline: 'It has been absolutely mental - I knew there would be some interest but not to this level. It literally started out as a bit of fun - there was no intelectual rigour involved in the process at all.' Pleasant surprise: Declan said every single one of the followers was 'incredibly nice' Who are you again? Declan admitted many of the followers had no idea why they were following him . Performer: But some discovered Declan after his gigs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival . First meeting: Most people looked utterly thrilled to put a face to the name when they met Declan . Heading north again: After finishing in Wales, Declan started the long rail trip back to Scotland . Connection: 'The beauty of Twitter is that you can really shape your account and follow like-minded people,' said Declan . Risk: But he says his mission highlighted just how much information people are willing to share online . High spirits: Declan met a lot of people in their homes but also had a few nights in the pub . That bit of fun started in January when he had 270 followers. After filtering out some of the 'spam' followers, he realised there were 150 people to meet, and set about the task, first starting in Glasgow and Edinburgh before booking a raft of train tickets and trundling around the country. Over two weeks, he visited 17 cities, including Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby, Manchester, Brighton, Exeter and Cardiff, while he contacted his overseas followers over Skype. 'Everyone I met was incredibly nice, there were no nutters,' he said. 'But I think that's the beauty of Twitter, you have a lot of control over who you connect with and most were like-minded, although quite a few had no idea why they were connected with me.' Memorable nights: Declan met a number of characters on the trip, including this Elvis lookalike, right . Taken aback: Little did Declan imagine the stir his mission would cause and his story hit the world stage this week . 'Mental': After the story broke in Scotland, his followers doubled to more than 300 . Off the scale: After the tale was picked up by national television he passed 12,000 followers . Foul play: Declan suspects the majority of his new followers sprung up due to a hacker . Career changer: Such has been the interest, Declan is thinking of writing a stage sketch about his experience . No stopping him: And he says he will continue trying to meet as many of his new followers as possible . Foreign trip: Declan says he may even have to start flying abroad to meet some of his followers . After the media picked up on his odyssey last week, his followers doubled before exploding to more than 12,000, although he suspects he may have been hacked. Despite this, the interest has been such that he has decided to make a show about his experience. 'I really had planned to stop at 150 and that would be that,' he said. 'But I think I will now carry it on, meeting a few more for my blog every month. I think it will make for a pretty good sketch.'
Declan Dineen, 32, was whiling away a boring nearly 150 of his followers, travelling the length and breadth of the country in the process. The story of his quirky quest has gone viral and passed 12,000 followers . Foul play: Declan