I’m a fan of #followfriday tradition on twitter–to an extent. I appreciate when people make the effort to tell their followers WHY we should heed their suggestion(s)–whether it’s parlaying the flavour/theme of a user’s tweets or grouping them within a category (e.g. #PRtweeps #peopleiknowIRL). I need something beyond the handle mention to “investigate” and ultimately add someone. Providing followers with complete #followfriday suggestions that you can stand behind is important, because it means you’re engaging (#tackybuzzwordalert) and, more directly, you’re doing someone a solid–and they’ll remember that on some level.
The best way to see whose tweets I’m enjoying is through my favourites. I’m using favourites to single out good tweets (funny, engaging or instructive), a habit I picked up from @Scobleizer.
I’ve been dying to use blackbird in a #followfriday blog post – so, here goes nothing…
#1 @Scobleizer // Robert Scoble
Scoble has been a huge influence for me–from tweeting style and habits (as mentioned above) to keeping me attuned to social networking innovations and “in-the-know” overall. I like his simple (not dumbed down) delivery. He was one of the first people I followed on twitter and I always advise newbies to seek out social media savyv tech-types to follow–learn by example.
#2 @Margoandhow // Margo Howard
I found Margo through @ebertchicago (one of my fave tweeters who you’re probably already following). I combed through the list of people he’s following and added a few promising tweeters. Margo is entertaining and has opinions on current events/pop culture.
#3 @kurren // Alessandro Piana Bianco
Not sure how I found him, but I quickly noticed he was throwing good articles my way and breaking news in a timely fashion. Also, his bio: “I am Alessandro Piana Bianco, an Information Architect and Content Strategist. I make complex issues easy to understand, facilitating access to information.”
#4 @alexmr // Alex Rosen
I’ve found a few awesome tweeters from lists. Alex belongs to the Googlers list that I follow (people who work at Google) and although the below tweet has an interesting and relevant take-away, I started following Alex because I think he’s entertaining.
#5 @jennyholzer // Jenny Holzer
She’s an artist. I look forward to her ALL CAPS tweets appearing in my feed.
