It's like the Matrix, only real. Picture: Census Australia Source: Supplied

You do now, thanks to the man making census data fun through the @2011Census Twitter account.

Collecting fact and figures may not sound like the sexiest of professions, but David McHugh of the Australian Bureau of Statistics is proving that it needn't be boring.

Since February, the national media manager for Census public relations has been tweeting as @2011Census about everything from beer drinking to Lady Gaga.

@2011CensusI love to have a beer with Duncan, I love to have a beer with Dunc, we drink in moderation, thanks to Australia’s 55,995 bar attendants.

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@2011CensusGood luck in the #TdF @CadelOfficial, one of 90,118 people who rode their push bike to work this morning.

Mr McHugh told news.com.au that combining statistics with pop culture could help make the census more appealing to Australians.

"I guess the ABS and Government departments have a tendency to be judged as being a bit boring," he said.

"We’re just trying to make it exciting and relevant, potentially for the first time."

"We did one with Harry Potter a few weeks ago — we did an urgent clarification that Muggles will be counted in the census. That went really well."

@2011CensusPoliticians aren’t the only ones who talk gibberish. According to Census data 105 people speak an invented language.

@2011CensusIf #JohnFarnham comes out of retirement again, he’ll join the 31,765 Australians aged 61 who work part time.

Mr McHugh said he hoped that as people came to realise the role statistics played in their lives, they would take the upcoming census more seriously.

"We’re really engaging groups, particularly youth markets who potentially haven’t done the census before or aren’t aware of their responsibility to do the census," he said.

"Hence our involvement in social media."

@2011CensusJust like dating, the Census can be completed online in 2011 #AusCensus

For the first time ever, this year's census can be filled out online. Mr McHugh said that may lead to a broader range of responses and better information than could be collected from paper forms alone.

"It’s probably a more convenient way to target the 18-35 demographic that traditionally aren’t as aware of the census," he said.

"It's quick, easy, secure and faster, as well, than the traditional paper form."