100 PR People Worth Following on Twitter

PLEASE NOTE: this list was created as an experiment for research purposes at a specific moment in time. It is not a long standing recommendation, ranking, or blanket validation of skill sets and level of experience.

+++

When I speak at events and the topic of Twitter comes up, people often ask me how to build their streams with interesting peers to follow. I build mine starting from all the bloggers I knew first, then looked at the profiles of those they replied to (@reply), then added those who participated in planned chats and conversations.

While there is no steadfast rule on who to follow and what ratio of followers to have - yes, I realize I'm busting another Twitter myth - the noise/signal ration in your stream will depend on the messages of those you follow. So follow wisely and never be afraid of unfollowing someone. Twitter is the most casual of all social networks - the barrier to entry is quite low - and it has the potential of being one of the most useful - when you're not afraid of meeting new people quickly.

The Twitter list of suggested people to follow is not exactly helpful to businesses that are working on learning more about how you do public relations in new media. Since looking up a lot of profiles is hard work, and Colleen just left a comment calling me a collector of people, I thought I'd show you one of my collections on Twitter - that of professionals who do PR right. By that I mean they are helpful and pay it forward.

I'm not going to rank the list, because some of these professionals serve a niche segment or a specific industry. Instead, I will list them in alphabetical order. Some of these people may not meet your definition of Twitter "famous". I chose them because they participate and contribute, on Twitter and to the profession, not because they have a known name - you should do the same.

1. Elizabeth Albrycht (@ealbrycht) consultant, university lecturer, France

2. Ryan Anderson (@ryananderson) founder, Fat Canary Communications

3. Luke Armour (@LukeArmour) digital strategist, FH

4. Constantin Basturea (@cbasturea) director, new media strategies, Converseon

5. Richard Becker (@RichBecker) president, Copywrite, Ink.

6. John Bell (@jbell99) head of 360° Digital Influence team - Ogilvy PR

7. Drew Benvie (@drewB) managing director, 33Digital

8. Jim Bowman (@ThePRDoc) consultant

9. David Brain (@DavidBrain) President & CEO Edelman Europe

10. Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge) author, consultant

11. Danny Brown (@DannyBrown) consultant, founder of the 12for12k Challenge

12. Cathy Browne (@CathyBrowne) veteran PR strategist

13. Stuart Bruce (@StuartBruce) founder, managing director, Wolfstar

14. Shonali Burke (@shonali) consultant

15. John Cass (@johncass) Founding Fellow, Advisory board member, Society of New Communications Research, author 

16. Simon Collister (@simoncollister) PR person doing social media and internet stuff for We Are Social

17. Kellye Crane (@KellyeCrane) consultant, moderator Twitter chat #solopr

18. Guillaume du Gardier (@gdugardier) head of digital media, Ferrero, West & South Europe

19. Todd Defren (@tdefren) principal SHIFT Communications, inventor, of the Social Media Release

20. Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) CEO, Arment Dietrich

21. Kevin Dugan (@prblog) 

22. Sarah Evans (@PRSarahEvans) founder of #journchat and Media On Twitter

23. Steve Farnsworth (@TheRealPRMan) director with the Silicon Valley Brand Forum and an adviser to Gravity Summit

24. Lauren Fernandez (@cubanaLAF) marketing coordinator at Mensa

25. Kyle Flaherty (@kyleflaherty) communications for Breaking Point

26. Dave Fleet (@davefleet) account director, social media, Thornley Fallis Communications

27. LuAnn Glowacz (@LuAnnGlowacz) consultant 

28. Jed Hallam (@jedhallam) senior project development executive, Wolfstar

29. Josh Hallett (@hyku) director, Voce Connect

30. Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) principal, ACH Communications

31. Beth Harte (@BethHarte) community manager, Marketing Profs, moderator #pr20chat

32. Karen Hartline (@khartline) manager of social media events & sponsorships, Porter Novelli

33. Doug Haslam (@DougH) SHIFT Communications

34. Peter Himler (@PeterHimler) founder and principal, Flatiron Communications LLC

35. Neville Hobson (@jangles) consultant, UK

36. Shel Holtz (@shel) principal, Holtz Communication + Technology

37. Lee Hopkins (@leehopkins) Adelaide Hills

38. Kami Huyse (@kamichat) principal, My PR Pro

39. Roger S. Johnson (@PRwise) Founded Newswise in 1991; PRwise focuses on social media and news media for PR professionals

40. David Jones (@DoctorJones) VP, digital communications, Hill & Knowlton Toronto

41. Zoey Jordan (@zoeyjordan) consultant

42. Rachel Kay (@rachelakay) president, Rachel Kay Public Relations

43. Shane Kinkennon (@ShaneKinkennon) consultant

44. Jason Kintzler (@jasonkintzler) founder of Pitch Engine

45. Richard Laermer (@laermer) CEO, RLM PR, author

46. Lindsay Lebresco (@LindseyLebresco) account director, Converseon

47. Geoff Livingston (@GeoffLiving) SVP, CRT/Tanaka, speaker, author

48. Mike Lizun (@MikeLizun) Gregory FCA

49. Marta Majewska (@princess_misia) Porter Novelli

50. Mike Manuel (@mmanuel) general manager, Voce Connect

51. Kelli Mathews (@kmatthews) Univ of Oregon PR instructor and consultant

52. Ben Matthews (@benrmatthews) 33Digital, founder of @brightonecomms, founding member of @twestival

53. Becky McMichael (@bmcmichael) head of corporate and technology division at Ruder Finn, UK

54. David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) consultant, speaker, author

55. Brittany Mohr (@brittanymohr) Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.

56. Jack Monson (@JackMonson) vice president, eNR

57. David Mullen (@dmullen) account supervisor, Mullen

58. Steve Mullen (@SteveMullen) president, Endgame Public Relations LLC

59. Tom Murphy (@tpemurphy) Microsoft Corporation

60. Shannon Nelson (@ShannonNelson) account manager, Pierce Mattie PR

61. Barbara Nixon (@BarbaraNixon) assistant professor of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University

62. Sam Oakley (@samoakley) social media PR, Wolfstar

63. Lee Odden (@leeodden) CEO, Top Rank

64. KD Paine (@kdpaine) consultant, author

65. David Parmet (@davidparmet) consultant

66. Jeremy Pepper (@jspepper) consultant

67. Christine Perkett (@missusP) founder, CEO, Perkett PR

68. Ike Pigott (@ikepigott) communications, Alabama Power

69. Greg Pitkoff (@gripcommpr) GRiP Communications – B2B and consumer PR for greentech, franchise

70. Catriona Pollard (@CatrionaPollard) director of PR agency CP Communications

71. Joel Postman (@jpostman) principal Socialized, social media for PR

72. David Reich (@davidreich) principal, Reich Communications

73. Cherisse Rivera (@cherissef) consultant

74. Deb Robinson (@debinDenver) Rudy Media

75. Barbara Rozgonyi (@wiredprworks) consultant

76. Steve Rubel (@steverubel) SVP, director of insights, Edelman Digital

77. Karen Russell (@KarenRussell) PR prof at the University of Georgia. Editor of the Journal of Public Relations Research

78. Cece Salomon-Lee (@csalomonlee) director of marketing, InXpo

79. Mike Schaffer (@mikeschaffer) DC sports and entertainment publicist

80. Rob Skinner (@robskinner) financial services PR

81. Charlotte Shaff (@charshaff) consultant

82. Peter Shankman (@skydiver) founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

83. Adan Singer (@AdamSinger) account manager, Top Rank

84. Bill Sledzik (@BillSledzik) public relations educator, Kent State

85. Andrew Smith (@andismit) consultant, UK

86. Brian Solis (@briansolis) principal, FutureWorks, speaker, author

87. Elizabeth Sosnow (@elizabethsosnow) B2B Bliss

88. Paul Stallard (@paul_stallard) PR and marketing professional at Berkeley PR

89. Sherrilynne Starkie (@sherrilynne) consultant, Isle of Man

90. Greg Swan (@perfectporridge) digital strategy manager, Weber Shandwick

91. Joseph Thornley (@thornley) CEO, Thornley Fallis Communications

92. Ron Torossian (@rtorossian5wpr) founder and CEO of 5W Public Relations

93. Paull Young (@paullyoung) Converseon

94. Trevor Young (@trevoryoung) co-founder and principal partner of strategy and communications advisory firm parkyoung, based in Melbourne, Australia

95. Stephen Waddington (@wadds) managing director, Speed, London

96. Matthew Watson (@mpwatson) account executive, Speed, London

97. Martin Waxamn (@MartinWaxman) president of Palette PR

98. Alan Weinkrantz (@alanweinkrantz) consultant

99. Dom Whitehurst (@domw) 3 Digital

100. Sarah Wurrey (@SarahWurrey) public affairs

I write about public relations as well and you can follow me @ConversationAge.

I was very surprised that many who write amazing PR blogs are not on Twitter, yet or have not thought of adding the Twitter link for people to follow them. You also probably guessed that my definition of PR is true public relations, and not just press releases, right?

Who did I forget? Let me know in the comments. Also, if you have a better description of your job, company, or title, add it here.

UPDATE: Neville Hobson created a TweepML list from this one so you can follow the whole list, or as many as you wish to follow from this list.

[image courtesy of Seven Morris]

© 2006-2009 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Karen Russell]

Thanks for including me -- and several other academics -- on your list!

[Boyd Neil]

Too bad you missed me at The Intangibles . . . but a valuable list nonetheless

[Meryl K Evans]

Valeria, this is a high quality list. I've checked a few of the folks... some I already follow and some I am following now -- not all of them. It's nice to see a genuine list rather than the well known folks with thousands of followers (some are in this list, but not many).

Great job.

[Jon Clements]

Great list, Valeria.
One omission is @robbrown (disclosure - my boss) who has recently published PR and the Social Web: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Public-Relations-Social-Web-Communications/dp/0749455071

[Rachel Kay]

Valeria,

Thanks so much for including me on this list. I was truly surprised to see a number of great people I wasn't yet following. I gain so much value from networking with my peers on Twitter that I'm happy to meet some new pros!

Great round up!

Rachel Kay

[Karthik]

I happened to see this list, thanks to a DM from a twitter friend of mine - @surekhapillai and boy, this is a fabulous list. And, as a PR professional, I'm ashamed that I'm not following many from this list of 100. Given this is a large list and one from which I could learn a lot, let me add a new column in my Seesmic for just this 100 and see the kind of value that each adds to my learning.

[Neville Hobson]

What a terrific list, Valeria! I've made it easy for anyone to follow all or anyone on that list at TweepML -

http://tweepml.org/PR-100/

[Kevin Dugan]

These are great Valeria. Thanks for including me and I love your logic around alphabetizing over ranking. PR is far beyond press releases as you note and I think anyone following these folks will realize this as well.

[Elizabeth Sosnow]

Valeria, I'm honored that you included me on any list, let alone a list with so many folks that I admire deeply. Thank you for conitnuing to teach me what community really means.

[Steve Mullen]

I'm honored to be included in this list. Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into it!

Steve Mullen
EndGame Public Relations, LLC
http://www.endgamepr.com

[Arik Hanson]

Like I said earlier today, Valeria, the best part about this list is you just introduced me to 25-plus smart, new PR pros for me to follow and learn from. Worth it's weight in gold.

And thanks for including me in this list. Not sure what I did to deserve that, but it is greatly appreciated.

A few folks to add:

@chuckhemann
@rockstarjen
@scotthepburn
@amymengel
@vedo
@allanschoenberg
@storyassistant

Many more, but those are my contributions ;)

@arikhanson

[Shannon Nelson]

Wow. No wonder I became so popular overnight. :) Thank you so much for including me in this list, I feel honored.

[Gini Dietrich]

Great list! Even found some new friends for me. Thanks!!

[david brain]

Wow thanks for including me...couldn't for the life of me work out where all the new followers were coming from. Many here I was not aware of and am following now also. Cheers.

[Andrew Bruce Smith]

Appreciate the inclusion on the list. Like David Brain, I was mystified where all these new followers were coming from. Mystery solved!

@andismit

[Jim Bowman]

Valeria - I'm honored to be on your list among so many people I admire and respect. Your post has kept my in box working overtime today. Honestly, the best part for me is finding so many good people I hadn't yet discovered. Thanks for taking the time to provide a well-researched, helpful post. jrb

[Tony Mackey]

Great list. Thanks for taking the time to put it together...and thanks for sharing.

[Barbara Nixon]

What a great birthday present for me! First, I've learned of several more PR people that I didn't know about before. And second, you included me on the list. Thanks!

[Sarah Wurrey]

Valeria, thank you so much for including me. Also thanks for pointing me towards such great people to follow.

[Barbara French]

Valeria - Thanks for this great selection of professionals - many are on my blogroll and Tweetie, and many are new to me. Hat tip to @BrianSolis for flagging it on Twitter. Hope I earn a spot next time round!

[Amber Naslund]

Valeria - this list is fab. Some old friends and new faces. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Greg Pitkoff]

I am thrilled and honored to be included here. Sadly there's a typo in my name. Should be @gripcommpr. Still, really, thanks for the honor! I'll do my best to live up to it.

[David Mullen]

Holy cow. Talk about a great end to an already great weekend.

Thanks so much for including me among some folks I think are amazing. And thanks for introducing me to about 30 new folks I'll begin following and interacting with after hitting "post" on this comment.

Lastly, thanks to you for sharing so much of your insights with the rest of us on a regular basis, both here and on Twitter. It's appreciated more than you know!

[Lee Hopkins]

Stunned to be included and the blame for being in the social media space at alll lies solely at the feet of Messrs Hobson and Holtz. If not for them... And it is also fabulous to see my friend Mr Bruce here too - he was the third person I added to my Bloglines feed, after the aforementioned H+H. Ahhh, such heady, halcyon early days of digital PR... :-)

[Ike]

I am honored to be considered.

But for me to have a spot when Mack Collier does not is an injustice.

Please add @mackcollier - he's given back so much more to the community. (If you have to pull me to keep it at 100, then so be it.)