45 Pros You Should Be Following on Twitter
If you love the Twitter like I love the Twitter, you know that it is much more than just a work diversion or a way to practice your editing skills. Part non-stop news feed, part networking luncheon/happy hour, part social commentary; Twitter is where the pros are hanging out. And you can learn a lot simply by reading and observing their Tweets.
Ready to fire up your TweetDeck or Whirl? Then consider following these Pros—they come from various industries and have different styles, but they all personally update their accounts on a regular basis, and provide both interesting information, humor, and personal insights in their individual fields.
Techies, Entrepreneurs, and Biz Folk
Name: Robert Scoble
Handle: @Scobleizer
Why Follow: Widely regarded as one of the biggest (and most social) geeks on the internet. Scoble is a prolific Twitterer!
Name: Guy Kawasaki
Handle: @GuyKawasaki
Why Follow: Marketing guru who earned his chops at Apple in the 1980’s. He is now enjoying success as a venture capitalist, author and blogger.
Name: Shel Israel
Handle: @shelisrael
Why Follow: A social media writer and blogger, Israel has teamed with Robert Scoble to co-author a book and is currently writing a new book about Twitter which he regularly tweets about.
Name: Sumaya Kazi
Handle: @sumaya
Why Follow: Senior Social Media Manager at Sun Microsystems and award winning entrepreneur, Sumaya is only 26 and has a bright future ahead of her. Her website empire facilitates social and professional networking among diverse ethnic groups.
Name: Penelope Trunk
Handle: @PenelopeTrunk
Why Follow: A career columnist at the Boston Globe and blogger for her own site Brazen Careerist which helps companies find talent. Trunk is full of excellent career advice and personal insights that can benefit you even if you’re not looking for a change.
Name: Al Kreuger
Handle: @alkrueger
Why Follow: Founder/Co-Principal of Comet Branding. MKE Advocate. Brander. Writer. Strategic Storyteller. Digs Marketing, PR 2.0, Cycling. Hosts Weekly Internet Radio Show.
Name: TimFerriss
Handle: @tferriss
Why Follow: Author of #1 NY Times bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek, Japanophile, tea drinker, tango world record holder, and language learning fanatic.
Name: Kevin Rose
Handle: @kevinrose
Why Follow: Founder of social media site digg.com. Random ideas, entrepreneur, climber of rocks, video blogger, & tea drinker.
Name: Pete Cashmore
Handle: @mashable
Why Follow: The face of Mashable.com, a blog and online community dedicated to everything and anything to do with social networking/Web 2.0.
Name: Biz Stone
Handle: @biz
Why Follow: Co-founder of Twitter and all-around colorful personality.
Name: Freda Mooncotch
Handle: @fredamooncotch
Why Follow: Founder and engine behind AlphaWomen.com; Mooncotch is one of the most personal and expressive Twitterers—sharing all the highs and lows of starting up her young company.
Name: Tannette Elie
Handle: @telie
Why Follow: Social media enthusiast and business columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I focus on how small businesses and start-ups are using networking to grow.
Name: Om Malik
Handle: @om
Why Follow: Founder of GigaOM & a Venture Partner at True Ventures; his blog GigaOm.com covers all aspects of modern business.
Name: Darren Rowse
Handle: @ProBlogger
Why Follow: Full time Blogger, Author, Social Media Participant. Sharing Blogging and Twitter Tips (and a little life). Rowse has what may very well be the most popular blog on the subject of blogging.
Name: Tony Hsieh
Handle: @zappos
Why Follow: Zappos.com is one of the most successful online retailers, selling hundreds of thousands of shoes each year. But Hsieh doesn’t just Tweet boring CEO stuff. He also shares his thoughts on antihistamines, mannequins, and spicy pork rinds.
Name: Frag Dolls Gaming Team
Handle: @FragDolls
Why Follow: Ubisoft’s all-girl professional gaming team. We’re passionate about video games and geek culture, and love to see more women playing and making games.
Name: Adam Toren
Handle: @thebizguy
Why Follow: It’s Yours Truly!
Entertainers, Artists and Athletes
Name: Shaquille O’Neill
Handle: @The_Real_Shaq
Why Follow: One of the most popular celebrity Twitterers, Shaq says of himself that he is “Very quotatious, I perform random acts of Shaqness.”
Name: Lance Armstrong
Handle: @lancearmstrong
Why Follow: 7-time Tour de France winner, full time cancer fighter, founder of the Livestrong Foundation, and inspiration to all.
Name: Rainn Wilson
Handle: @RainnWilson
Why Follow: Actor, writer and co-creator of SoulPancake and his son, Walter. Best known for his role as Dwight K. Schrute on NBC’s hit comedy series, The Office.
Name: Bob Saget
Handle: @bob_saget
Why Follow: New account of this well-known comedian and actor. He’s not the G-rated guy you remember from Full House.
Name: John Hodgman
Handle: @Hodgman
Why Follow: John Hodgman is a self-proclaimed “expert” on everything. He’s also a writer, actor, and television personality best known for his role as a PC in the Apple commercials.
Name: Snoop Dogg
Handle: @snoopdogg
Why Follow: Rap artist and television personality, Snoop Dogg has taken to the internet and tweets live from his MTV television show Dogg After Dark which is on each Tuesday evening.
Name: Eddie Izzard
Handle: @eddieizzard
Why Follow: Hilarious, legendary UK-based comedian keeps you updated on hi gigs and other globe-trotting adventures.
Name: John Lithgow
Handle: @John_Lithgow
Why Follow: Brilliant actor who tweets about hanging out with famous people and book recommendations among other things.
Name: Jimmy Fallon
Handle: @jimmyfallon
Why Follow: SNL alum and the host of The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, he’s full of current events, humor and mendacity.
Name: Tony Hawk
Handle: @tonyhawk
Why Follow: Professional (legendary) skateboarder, dad, videogame character, husband, ceo, and kid chauffeur.
Name: Ashton Kutcher
Handle: @aplusk
Why Follow: Surprisingly hilarious tweets from Mr. Demi Moore. Kutcher is one of the most prolific celeb tweeters and he seems to really enjoy it.
Name: P.Diddy/Sean Combs
Handle: @iamdiddy
Why Follow: Hip-hop guru, mega-producer, and gazillionaire; P.Diddy tweets about being in the studio, hanging out with his famous pals, and everything else having to do with being wildly successful.
Name: Jon Favreau
Handle: @Jon_Favreau
Why Follow: Actor, producer and director of the upcoming Iron Man 2; Favreau’s tweets are a fascinating look behind the scenes of movie-making.
Name: David Lynch
Handle: @David_Lynch
Why Follow: Provocative director, screenwriter, producer, painter, cartoonist, composer, and performance artist. Lynch is renowned for his creative and (often disturbing) storytelling abilities.
Name: Trent Reznor
Handle: @trent_reznor
Why Follow: Nine Inch Nails frontman and passionate internet user, Reznor has been on the front lines of the digital music revolution for the past decade.
Name: “Weird” Al Yankovic
Handle: @alyankovic
Why Follow: He’s weird. And really, really funny.
Reporters, Writers and Info-Geeks
Name: Anderson Cooper
Handle: @andersoncooper
Why Follow: CNN’s silver fox tweets live from the news desk, and he’s always got tweets about the freshest news stories and current events.
Name: Rachel Maddow
Handle: @maddow
Why Follow: Wildly popular anchor of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show; she combines news and humor in her own unique way.
Name: Neil Gaiman
Handle: @neilhimself
Why Follow: Neil Gaiman is the winner of 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards, 2 British SF Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award, 3 Geffens, 1 International Horror Guild Award and 1 Mythopoeic.
Name: Arianna Huffington
Handle: @ariannahuff
Why Follow: Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post; This is Huffington’s personal Twitter account and gives you both links to her HuffPo blog posts and personal commentary.
Name: George Stephanopolous
Handle: @GStephanopoulos
Why Follow: ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Host of “This Week”
Name: Tim O’Reilly
Handle: @timoreilly
Why Follow: Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media. Watching the alpha geeks, sharing their stories, helping the future unfold.
Name: David Pogue
Handle: @Pogue
Why Follow: Tech columnist for the NY Times; CNBC tech dude; Missing Manuals creator, dad of 3! Loves to talk about family life as much as he does technology.
Name: Megan McCain
Handle: @McCainBlogette
Why Follow: The voice of the New Conservative Youth, Megan McCain is daughter of former Presidential nominee and Senator John McCain. She’s got moxie!
Name: Susan Murphy
Handle: @SuzeMuse
Why Follow: Writer, tv producer, media creator, teacher, singer, wizard, and pet mom and founder of www.12for12k.org?
Name: Natalie Abrams
Handle: @NatalieAbrams
Why Follow: Assistant to the TV Diva @ E! Online. Insider news and gossip from the heart of Hollywood, CA.
Name: Daryl Cagle
Handle: @dcagle
Why Follow: Cagle is one of the best known political cartoonists in the U.S. today. He is the cartoonist for MSNBC.com and has his own site www.blog.cagle.com/daryl.
Name: John Dickerson
Handle: @jdickerson
Why Follow: Journalist and blogger with impressive credentials that include White House Correspondent for Time Magazine.
Let me add another genius to this huge list: Kenneth Yu, the million dollar award winning copywriter and twitter expert. Here is the twitter profile:
http://twitter.com/emailcopywriter
Wo! You’re talking about mashable, why not @techcrunch ?
2 minutes. That’s the amount of time it would have taken to link to the actual twitter pages you’re talking about.
Great roundup Adam - I’m sure going to check some of those guys out!
If you could hyperlink those @handles that would be a lot easier for us though!
You missed a couple of the leading twitter folks in the Cloud space (web 2.0.next + social = Cloud). The social (only) side gets much less interesting from a tech. perspective w/out where the Cloud is going.
@TimBray
@twleung
@DeveloperFish
Great list there! You might want to consider this guy too…
@trontastic - Funny SEM pro with decent incite on life in general.
An epic list and some really interesting inclusions here. I’ve checked out quite a few on the list and keen to get to some more (even though I should be spending my time writing for my own new blog right now). Thanks for the distraction
Just because someone is prolific, does not an interesting follow make. Most of these are good, but there are a few YAWNS in there.
And what about @stephenfry (Stephen Fry) or @donttrythis (Adam Savage)?
Good representative list. I’m following most of these folks already, but will certainly check out some of the others.
Hell, I’m not too proud not to advertise myself, I’m doing pretty good on Twitter too - check me out @jameshicks
Where is Brent Spiner? He is, by far and away, the most entertaining Tweeter I have come across.
They also missed @MCHAMMER very techie & has dance jam contests. I was thrilled to see I had 7 or 8 of various peeps to follow that I am already following and recognized by name!!!!
And what of @Barefoot_Exec @twittermoms
Now do I follow everything and have HUGE Success…. well I am only a human, that has busy lifestyle, dragged in many directions in real life!
A lot of the CELEBS in real life get a huge head start but what about people like @mayhemstudios graphic artist now at 35,000 or @NixTheNews comedy extraordinaire with his twitterbreak.com highlighting fellow twitters news trivia and quirky stuff.
GREAT Blog put together of power tweeters!
Really???
You mentioned - “And you can learn a lot simply by reading and observing their Tweets.” I again ask … really?
I mean, please do a random check … sorry for asking, but are these all your friends or your personal choice? If so, please write a disclaimer!
Your comment says “Speak Your Mind” … I just did!
That @hollium bird is meant to be rather amusing…
You forgot about Kevin Pollak @kevinpollak for Entertainers. He is very active on twitter and also has the http://kevinpollakschatshow.com/ where he takes questions for guests via twitter.
No retweet button on an article about twitter?
Great list! There are a few people on this list I’m following, but far more I’m not and should be. Who knew John Lithgow tweeted?
And believe it or not it can be fun to follow a normal, real life person/mom/pro humor writer, so check out marymac!
Great list of people well done. I would have included David Rosen as well
@davidrosen
It’s getting harder to actually take in valuable information from people on twitter now with tweets popping out every second..
Everyone has their own tastes in who and what they want to follow - thanks for your suggestions! Didn’t know Weird Al tweeted. Awesome.
great list. don’t forget to follow me:
@juiankauai
ps not so famous, non-celebrity but mac developer of software like CopyPaste,iClock
lots of comments about life, philosophy, politics and meditation.
Add @Liquid_Fusion - Good energy coming together!! Changing vibrations of music: Rock / blues / acoustic.
That was a Useful collection. I did not see even a single Indian in the list. Anyways, thanks for the list.
nice list….i’ll follow
Follow me on twitter for small business technology news and more: http://wwww.twitter.com/mypctechs
Very good list of people to follow. Did a RT of this article via my won Twitter account. Very valuable information here.
nice list, here is my twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leagendry
Interesting list. Thanks for collection
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/banhaclong20
Great list of people. Thanks for compiling it.
-Tom
Melody says:
April 18, 2009 at 6:08 pm
“It’s getting harder to actually take in valuable information from people on twitter now with tweets popping out every second..”
I agree with you Melody. Twitter surely has some social value, but it seems to have quickly become a mammoth back and forth goolash of, “Hey, I’m over here. Come over here and see me and buy my stuff.” And that’s all most of the Twitter clan want. I have a tracking code in my Twitter url (like most I’m sure) and I know the vast majority are not visiting my site before sending me a “Welcome, thanks for following” note - which was automated of course. I would love to know the REAL business plan of the Twitter founders. I can’t believe it was for the purpose of the whole world selling to each other.
That is some nice list there, I am also looking for such professionals since I just started using Twitter. Great list man!
That is some nice list there, I am also looking for such professionals since I just started using Twitter. Great list dude!
I don’t know if I’m missing something or what… But I can’t understand for the life of me why people care what other people are doing from minute to minute. I really love blogs but twitter is over my head.
thanks for the lists, i will follow that on my twitter account
Learning from the top twitters you will go far on there platform for sure.
thanks for the post,it’s good to lean form the pro’s