10 Twitter Users Who Deserve Attention

indiebusiness

suzannetobias

Wichita Eagle columnist (that’s Wichita, Kansas, for those who are geographically challenged) Suzanne Tobias is as America as they come. I dare you to read her Tweets — or her column — and not find your faith in the goodness of humanity renewed. If you like Garrison Keillor, you’ll love @suzannetobias.

griner

It’s rare to find anyone in social media who ISN’Ta self-aggrandizing, self-promoting glub, but David Griner is one such rarity. A social media strategist for the quirky Birmingham, Alabama firm Luckie & Company, @griner offers a cool, collected, say-it-like-is perspective on advertising and media at his blog, The Social Path.

nbcsquire

Newsrooms are shrinking and old-schol journalists are vanishing like extras in a Stephen King movie, but Ryan Squire of NBC4 in Columbus, Ohio is cutting a path through the fog. He dished about the challenges facing traditional media for a post I wrote in July, and @NBCsquire has been my go-to guy for perspective on local newsrooms ever since.

christyseason

Christy’s an intranet strategist for a power Columbia, S.C., and she caught my attention with this Tweet. When I see an oft-sluggish behemoth like a power company asking smart questions about Twitter, I get excited. Kudos to @christyseason for stirring the pot!

mikelizun

I like Mike because he really seems to appreciate the intersection of social media, PR, journalism and advertising. He’s always passing along relevant links, and he’s not afraid to ask questions, either. A PR guy who admits he’s not an expert? Yeah, he’s real, and his name is @mikelizun.

barbaranixon

If Twitter gave out Ph.D.s, I’d be first in line to register for a class with @barbaranixon. Professor Nixon often Tweets about the use of social media in an academic setting. Her students are tackling the hottest topics in social, and she’s incorporating these tools into the classroom — pretty progressive, even for a college campus.

lisahoffmann

I’d be horribly amiss if I didn’t include my PRstore colleague Lisa Hoffmann in this list. She picked up more than 200 followers in about two days, and as she explains, succeeding in social media requires a mastery of the “social” part. If you’re not following @lisahoffmann, you’re missing a chance to learn from an emerging star.

agoodhusband

I stumbled into Cory Huff (@agoodhusband) in the comments section of a Darren Rowse post, and he graciously let me write a guest post on his own blog. Some days, it seems like Cory is the only person in the social media space NOT writing about social media. His blog, A Good Husband, is more than a how-to guide to marriage; it’s a reminder to all of us, gentlemen, that we could all be better men.

upsideup

Another fellow Charlottean, Laurie is the co-founder of Kirtsy, a social media platform for — well, for a bunch of girlie stuff, really. “A plaza for the peachy. A portal to the pretty,” says the site. Girlie or not, there’s a community growing there. With @upsideup’s help, Kirtsy has captured social media magic, and you’ll be hearing more and more about Laurie and the other gals before long.