Actors? There’s an app for that.

Peter Facinelli, a.k.a. Carlisle Cullen, the daddy of the vampires in “Twilight,’’ and Billy Burke, who plays Bella Swan’s dad Charlie, hired 211me to create an iPhone application for them to connect with fans. Both men use the technology to post messages, show videos, and answer questions from their many followers. The actors’ messages to subscribers - who pay $1.99 for the iPhone apps - often include tidbits from the set of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’’ which they’re filming in Vancouver, British Columbia.

DeFranco explains that nowadays, actors actually want their lives out in the public - or they at least want to have a way to control the flow of information they make public. They’d rather show people who they are and what they’re doing instead of promoting one specific project or popping up on a gossip blog.

“They have more control to show other parts of their life, not just the plug they do on Jay Leno,’’ DeFranco said. “There’s a real interest in social media in Hollywood right now.’’

For DeFranco, who looks a bit too hip to be running a business from a Westborough office park, making phone applications for famous people combines his past and his present. He started out as a movie maker, leaving Sudbury for the West Coast right after college. He made the 1999 movie “Telling You,’’ a coming-of-age film that starred Facinelli and Jennifer Love Hewitt, but eventually focused more of his efforts in the tech and software business to support his craft.

It was just a few years ago that he realized he could merge the careers. His actor friends were interested in social media and needed help with their online profiles.

What DeFranco has created are essentially amped-up Twitter accounts with more bells and whistles. Those who pay the one-time fee for an app can get video, private voicemails, and exclusive news straight from actors, who, surprisingly enough, have been willing to dedicate the time to updating their profiles.

DeFranco’s first clients were his pal Facinelli and Facinelli’s wife, “Beverly Hills, 90210’’ actress Jennie Garth. The list has grown to include Burke, Lucas Till of “Hannah Montana: The Movie,’’ “One Tree Hill’’ actress Danneel Harris, and Neal McDonough, a locally bred actor who’s now on “Desperate Housewives.’’ DeFranco hopes to eventually include writers and athletes.

Facinelli said he has taken to having an iPhone app more quickly than he thought he would. He recently posted video from the sci-fi convention Dragon*Con to his application for fans. He has also used his app to raise money for charities by soliciting fans for involvement. When he’s ambitious, he sends subscribers personal notes.

Facinelli said there’s so much down time on movie sets that he actually has plenty of time to interact with his community of fans.

“I never liked the word Twitter. It sounded really dirty to me,’’ Facinelli joked during a recent phone interview from the “Eclipse’’ set. “I always had fun texting people. Now it’s fun to be able to connect to fans. I find it more fun than a burden.’’

The process has been less natural for Burke, who admitted in a phone interview that because he’s an intensely private person, it’s counterintuitive for him to put personal notes out into the world. He actually likens Twitter rants to graffiti. But Burke sees social media as a necessity in the industry these days.

“The entire business is so different than it was 10 or 15 years ago,’’ he said. “The business has shifted too much that if you don’t put yourself out there, if you don’t control what’s said about you . . . nothing’s going to be said - and thusly, the work is harder to get.’’

Facinelli finds it amusing that he and Burke - who play the patriarchs in “Twilight’’ and in the upcoming “New Moon’’ - are far more interested in social media than their younger costars, including Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Facinelli says that’s probably because the younger actors are already hounded by almost every media outlet imaginable. They don’t want to invite more attention.

“They’re so oversaturated. After 15 years in the business, I’m used to it,’’ Facinelli said, laughing. “I’m boring. Everybody knows that I’m married and have kids.’’

Of course, dedicated “Twilight’’ fans know that Facinelli did convince Pattinson to use his 211(me) app at least once. In September, the British heartthrob who plays beloved teen vampire Edward Cullen got on Facinelli’s account to tweet, “Hi, it’s Rob . . . My first and last tweet. My dad made me do it.’’ He meant his vampire dad, of course.

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com