To follow or not to follow, that is one of many questions that arise when people first set up an account on Twitter. Perhaps an even greater question is who should I follow on Twitter?
At the request of digital journalist Nicole Brewer, a reporter for www.CBS3.com and CWPhilly57 TV here in Philadelphia, I have creted a list of suggested people to follow on Twitter. This post will accompany a TV broadcast and web story she is writing about using Twitter in May 2009. It’s just a a place to start.
I know that “who to follow” is a highly subjective topic, so I am including a diverse list of people, both local and from further afield. I’m trying to include people who are active and engage or connect with others, and those who tweet about various interests, hobbies and cool things to do, not necessarily big brands or businesses.
I’ve tried to select those who will be friendly and will hopefully interact with you on Twitter as you check it out. I’ve tried to pick the type of folks who, at a party, will come up and say hi, but not the type who will slap their business card in your hands before they even shake your hand.
You can always ask me questions on Twitter too – I’m @CathyWebSavvyPR. To see one POV on how and what to tweet about click here. For very basic tips on how to set up your page and tweet click here.
A few Music Peeps to follow on Twitter:
WaltRibeiro / Walt Ribeiro I’m The Internet’s Music Teacher and NYC Organizer for Digg. I Salsa Dance, write Orchestra Music, and can solve a Rubiks Cube. You Rock (and roll) [Note: Walt used to live in Philly, but is now in NYC. He helped me select a few music scene peeps on Twitter.] [NYC/Philly roots]
boggia Purveyor of YesterPop & builder of Brand New Classic Rock since 2001.
SpintoBand Local Philly indie rock band suggested by @waltribeiro
matthyzer / Matt Hyzer Professional piano player, music arranger, church organist, jazz player
Mom Bloggers to follow on Twitter:
Cecilyk / Cecily Blogger * Writer * Mom * Sober * Fat Chick * Wife * Liberal * Philly Girl [Note: She was featured Nicole Brewer's CW Philly TV broadcast]
classymommy MBA turned SAHM of 2. Founder/Editor Classy Mommy, Social Media Consultant, Runner, Mom Expert, Brand Advocate & Consultant [SAHM = Stay at Home Mom]
DealSeekingMom / Tara KuczykowskiCFO, Mediator, Chef, Chauffeur, Fashionista, Cheerleader, Physician, Psychiatrist, aka MOM (of 5).
momadvice I am founder of MomAdvice.com and momma to two beautiful kids.
Multi-talented local Philadelphia peeps to check out or follow on Twitter:
KimWood / Kim Wood I’m just me ! Mom, Blogger, Real Estate Agent, Runner, Pescetarian talking about Life in Pennsylvania. I want *connection*.
LDpodcast / Whitney HoffmanAttorney/podcaster/Podcamp Foundation Director of Operations/ Pediatric Logistics Specialist [Note: Whitney is responsible for getting me into Twitter - I'd been checking it out, but jumped in after attending Whitney's Podcamp Philly event)
gloriabell / Gloria Bell People Connector, Social Media Enthusiast, Life Lover, Friend, Hugger, Organizer, Thoughts/Musings at http://asseenthroughmyeyes.wordpress.com/
tweetupphilly / Tweet Up Philly!Putting the SOCIAL in Social Media in Philly (tweets by @waltpsu and @jenz036)
Twitter Peeps in Philly Food and Culture:
PhilaFoodie Adventures in food and wine in Philadelphia. Restaurant critic for Philly’s City Paper. Lawyer.
avenueofthearts Philadelphia premier entertainment and cultural district.
visitphilly Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, as tweeted by Caroline
greenphilly / TU-GreenFreeman, Emily, and Joe: Temple University seniors analyzing How Green Philadelphia is {Note: new to Twitter – but might be of interest]
Folks who are knowledgeable about the larger realm of social media and blogging
BethHarte / Beth HartePrincipal of HMC. Marketing. PR. Social Media. Adjunct Prof. History addict. Avid reader. Art/Culture buff. Fan of beer, cowgirl boots and brilliance [Note: She was featured Nicole Brewer's CW Philly TV broadcast]
chrisbrogan / Chris Brogan President, New Marketing Labs, a social media agency and education company. Email: blog at chrisbrogan dot com [Note: VERY useful info - not local, but I met him at PodCamp Philly]
copyblogger / Brian Clark I create new media content for fun and profit. [Note: Not local, but great info]
problogger / Darren Rowse I blog about twitter and tweet about blogging. Sometimes I blog about tweeting about blogging and tweet about blogging about twitter. [Note: he also created a blog called www.Twittips.com, also not local]
mashable / Pete Cashmore The hottest Twitter news, Twitter tips and Twitter help. Plus, the best social media links around! . [Note: Not local, but great info]
IreneKoehler / Irene Koehler How can I help you leverage social media and networking for your business or career? Coach, speaker; plus tips on my site. Happy to answer questions. {Note whe is hosing a free, Twitter 101 webinar 5/28/09]
And me – CathyWebSavvyPR / Cathy Larkin Naturally curious, I love sharing cool stuff. A Social Media / PR Guide 4 small biz, museums & authors who do cool things linkedin.com/in/cathylarkin
Small Business and Freelance info:
smallbiztrends / Anita Campbell CEO, Small Business Trends, an online small biz community reaching over 250,000 each month. Small business success … delivered daily CA [Note: Not local]
debbieweil / Debbie Weil I translate all this stuff for the non-digerati; author of THE CORPORATE BLOGGING BOOK; background photo: Tim rock climbing in CA [Note: Not local]
FreelanceFolder FreelanceFolder is a blog and community for freelancers and web-workers [Disclosure: We have worked together on a few projects]
alexknowshtml / Alex HillmanCommunity Architect, Catalyst for Hire. I’m an expert in misadventures. I co-founded IndyHall, a community coworking space in Philadelphia.
smallbizlady / Melinda Emerson Melinda Emerson is an entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach-expertise includes small business start-up, leadership and work/life balance. [Philly. Disclosure: We co-host a chat @SmallBizChat on Twitter about small business together]
Some of these people I have never met except on Twitter, some folks I have met in person after ‘meeting’ them and interacting with them on Twitter, and others that were recommended to me by my Twitter followers. Please add your suggestions below too!
Please feel free to add twitter peeps I missed in the comments section of the post; and please include why we should follow them. Oh, and I encourage people to include their twitter usernames (or handles as they are called) at the end of your comment – because it is all about building community and engaging with each other.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Daneen :) 05.21.09 at 9:41 pm
I nominate myself! I’m a beauty expert and blogger born and raised (and still live) in Philly. My blog, Spoiled Pretty (http://spoiledpretty), is an award-winning beauty blog and lifestyle website…and I tweet under the handle ’spoiledpretty’ about all things beauty and pop culture. I also contribute to the NBC 10! Show as a beauty expert. Would love some more Twitter friends!
Colleen 05.21.09 at 10:00 pm
If you knit, Crochet, Cross Stitch, Sew, Quilt, Needlepoint or Embroider then our tweets are a MUST FOLLOW! We tweet new needlework releases, shop sales, charity events, classes, teachers, tradeshows, etc. Follow us on Twitter @LTSneedlework or visit our website (http://www.LooseThreadStitchers.com) where we are building the world’s largest user driven online needlework directory ever created.
CathyWebSavvyPR 05.21.09 at 10:27 pm
Welcome, did you see http://Twitter.com/Nicole_Brewer ’s CWPhilly Tv broadcast, or did you see a retweet of the blog post on Twitter? Just curious.
I’ll follow you both on Twitter!
I know the list was selective, but Nicole’s TV story was aimed at new folks on Twitter, so I went with those who would reach out to newbies.
Glad to meet you! see you on Twitter!
@CathyWebSavvyPR on Twitter
Heather 05.21.09 at 10:29 pm
Hello! First I want to say thanks for putting together the little social list for us who watched Nicole’s report on channel 3
I am nominating myself to the social blogging scene as well. I am looking to network. I just started “tweeting” and could always use friendly followers to network with.
I am from Philadelphia, I am a local actress/model and travel to nyc as well. I am studying law and I am addicted to shopping!!!
My twitter is : heather_capuano see ya on twitter
Gloria 05.21.09 at 10:50 pm
Cathy,
Thank you for including me in such a prestigious list. It makes me so happy to see you paying forward all the help that was given to you when you first started out. You deserve very high praise for all of the effort and enthusiasm you give to building and educating our community!
CathyWebSavvyPR 05.21.09 at 11:01 pm
Tip to help people find you when commenting on a blog post.
1) put your website link, or twitter URL, into the space provided
Name: Email: Website: that way if we are interested in finding more about you, we can click on the link.
The Website needs to be http://www.yourURL.com or http://your URL.com – depending on your link. or for twitter http://twitter.com/yourusername
To add your Twitter ID link in the body of a blog comment, you need to do it like this to make it clickable: http://twitter.com/cathywebsavvypr
Just be aware, that general blog comment etiquette usually frowns on links to your own websites, except in the sign-in part of comment (see if others do it on a specific blog and follow their lead). But I think posting a twitter link here fosters communication – so go for it!
classymommy 05.22.09 at 7:09 am
Great job putting together this list for interesting “tweeple” to follow. I’m so excited to follow all these new resources. Thanks! Colleen
Jen Bolger 05.22.09 at 9:18 am
Thanks for sharing some Twitter help and suggestions! We are just launching MomsLikeMe.com in Philadelphia. Join the Momversation!
@CathyWebSavvyPR 05.22.09 at 11:49 am
Peeps, If I left you out of my list, I am sorry – limited space & constraints of TV story. but there were so many mom blogger peeps I left out and the mom angle of the story has gotten some comments so – these are also Moms on Twitter I respect and have worked with – @CarissaRogers @Jyl_MomIF @TypeAMom @ResourcefulMom All good moms doing interesting things.
@CathyWebSavvyPR 05.22.09 at 11:51 am
P.S. I added a plugin that will create a hyperlink to a URL with either http://www.ULR.com or http://URL .com or a Twitter username with just the @username symbol – no need to type full twitter URL
PurpleCar 05.26.09 at 7:57 pm
Hey Cathy!
Nice list! It is important to reach out to newbies on Twitter, especially since the latest stats say that 60% of new users quit Twitter. We’re guessing there is just too much spam.
I have a post (with TV spots) up on my blog that will help people get started on Twitter, located at http://www.purplecar.net/2009/03/11/how-to-start-using-twitter/.
Hope that helps!
-Christine Cavalier (PurpleCar)
Irene Koehler 06.15.09 at 1:20 am
Hi Cathy,
You’ve compiled a great list of helpful people and resources. I’ve shared your post with folks new to Twitter and will continue to do so.
Twitter is a fabulous tool when used to connect with people, as opposed to self-promote or broadcast endlessly. I never would have had the opportunity to meet you without it. That alone is worth the price of admission!
Cheers,
Irene
http://twitter.com/irenekoehler
Michael Benidt 06.19.09 at 10:35 am
Great article. Makes me want to write a companion piece that I might call “Who Not to Follow on Twitter.” We watch all the time as people from an industry follow all their other buddies in that industry. For instance, speakers follow other speakers. Guess what, they already know those folks – and that’s not their target audience. I’d say, don’t follow the people you already know. Twitter wants you to surrender your GMail or Outlook contacts, but tell them to go jump.
Follow people you don’ t already know – from areas that might be new to you. Follow folks you might learn from, be challenged by or who are from that “other” political party (heaven forbid!). Use Twitter to stretch yourself a bit.
CathyWebSavvyPR 06.19.09 at 11:32 am
Christine and Irene, thanks for the comments. Glad to have interacted with you both (via twitter, over the phone -Irene- and in person -Christine-).
Michael, while I agree in principal with your comment, that following people you know already, and those in your industry would be waste, if that is all who you connect with on twitter.
However, I have found that we all bring something to the table. I have received great insights from my peers in PR & Social Media, links to good articles, shared info on programs that work/don’t work, found business partners and more.
But, they are not by any means the only people I connect with, and I do agree that I see too much of that on Twitter. It’s okay in my book to start with a few people you know, so they can help you learn about twitter, and see who they interact with on twitter. But I too encourage folks to step out of the known, as one of the strengths of Twitter is the serendipity of connections that you find. Connecting with someone can (and has for me) lead to information and connections that were unexpected and just what I needed at the time. I have connected with amazing people all over the world, and right in my own neighborhood, whom I would never have “met” if it were not for these 140 character strings of text we send out from our keyboards.
Sorry to wax poetic, but the serendipity factor of Twitter intrigues me, and is worth exploring.
Michael Benidt 06.20.09 at 7:37 am
Cathy, thanks for the clarification – and the poetic wax about serendipity.
We love the inspirational speaker, Cheryl Richardson, for what she calls “moments of grace.” Whether it’s happenstance, serendipity, “moments of grace” or the hand of the big guy, she teaches us to key a sharp eye out for those moments. What’s cool about the social web is that it multiplies the chances for such moments of grace. What’s not cool about the social internet is that so many folks are just using it as a podium for their sales message. That second group is currently driving out some of my desire to connect to the first.
When it comes to the social web, I wish there were fewer folks “pitching me” and more commenting that they like one of the same books I listed on my Facebook profile.