100 PR People Worth Following on Twitter

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

[Mike Schaffer]

Honored to be included in this incredible list! Thank you for the consideration and I'll try to live up to it!

[Paul Stallard]

Thanks for pointing all of the the new followers my way. Much appreciated. Great list...I have picked up a few new people to follow myself.

[Stephen Waddington]

Thanks so much for including me in a list of such notable folk, and thanks for bringing me so many new contacts.

[Chuck Hemann]

Valeria - thanks for sharing this list with us. There are several people on here that I'm not already following. Thanks also to Arik for including me in his comment.

[Davina K. Brewer]

Thanks for the good mix of PR pros, interesting folks on Twitter. Between the list and the comments, I've found several knew people to follow. Props to Ike for giving his spot to @Mack Collier.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Thank you all for the comments. It sounds like I need to inform my good friend Mack that he's now doing PR :)

[Beth Harte]

Valeria, thanks so much for including me in the list! There are a lot of great folks who I don't know (one of the drawbacks of our ever growing online world) that I am looking forward to connecting with and learning from.

I especially love that your list is global! ;-)

Beth Harte
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
@bethharte

[Bostondave]

Great list....

[David Burrows]

Thanks for sharing. Found some people I was not aware of on twitter.

-David

[Larissa Fair]

What a great list Valeria. I'm glad that I'm already connected to/real-life friends with/following over 90% of these folks -- it validates that I'm getting good information from smart and engaged professionals. Thanks for putting this together and kudos to all included! :)

~ Larissa
@LYF108

[Boyd Neil]

By the way, re: above it is @boydneil

[Doug Haslam]

Simply put, honored to be mentioned on this list. 100 isn't a lot of people, and there is a lot of PR brain in here.

I'm in general agreement with the folks who are adding deserving names (@mackcollier? Yes!)-- but this is Valeria's list, so rather than add more myself, I 'll just say this:

If you are interested in PR, follow these folks. You will find other PR people they are speaking with. Some of them are even smart, perhaps smarter than this original list. follow them too.

Problem solved.

Valeria, again- thank you!

[Tony Berkman]

Congrats to everyone who made this list and to my friend Rich Becker in particular.

[Justin Goldsborough]

Thanks for sharing this great list, Valeria. I always like to judge these lists by how many "stop and read" tweeps they have. IOW, I follow a lot of folks, but no matter how big my follow list gets, there are certain people whose tweets I always look for because their comments are ones I want to "stop and read."

You've got several great "stop and read" thought leaders on your list. A few others I enjoy...

@beverlymacy
@rumford
@aaswartz
@jasonfalls
@valeriesimon
@prtini
@sonnygill
@jasonfalls
@zenaweist

Hope others keep adding great tweeps to the list. Thanks again for sharing.

[Tiffany Monhollon]

Great list with some new pros to follow. Thanks for adding quality to my Twitter experience by sharing these contacts!

[Shonali Burke, ABC]

For some reason my comment from yesterday didn't show up, so here I am again. Thank you, Valeria, for your very kind inclusion. Once I saw your post, I realized why I was deluged with new followers. :) I've found some great new folks thanks to this - and you.

[Tressa Robbins]

I'm following most of these folks already but thanks for some new additions!

I'd add @ValerieSimon (disclosure, my colleague at BurrellesLuce) as she not only moderates #PRStudChat with @dbreakenridge but also writes for PR Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-5725-Public-Relations-Examiner)

Thanks again :-)
http://www.twitter.com/tressalynne

[Larissa Fair]

Oh -- I would also add @rohitbhargava! :)

[Cherisse Fonseca Rivera]

I am honored to be included on this list. Many of these people I consider to be mentors. I am amazed at all I have learned since August. I would add:
@ValeriSimon
@sharixax
@mdbarber

[Pierre Bellerose]

Valeria - Thanks for this great selection of professionals. Hope I earn a spot next time round!

[Cece Salomon-Lee]

I was wondering why my Twitter was going crazy over the weekend =) I am honored and humbled to be on such an esteem list. Thanks!

[Lee Odden]

Great list Valeria - not worthy myself though :)

I was just going to request a way to add all at once and I see that Neville saved the day. Thanks!

[Jonathan Petersen]

Thank you for compiling this list. I'm a follower of many of them already and find their insights to be worthwhile. If you're interested, I tweet http://twitter.com/jonpetersen (@jonpetersen) about branding, PR, leadership, the media, marketing, and evangelicalism. Would love to connect with like-minded professionals. Jon

[Michele]

This is an awesome list! I was already following some of these but I'm following the others now.

Great resource--I'm going to share this post!

[Danny Brown]

Hey there Valeria,

Now I know why I'm needing to look for an assistant to help with email inbox all of a sudden... ;-)

I think everyone here has said it perfectly - what a delight to be placed amongst such a list (especially beside Deirdre and Cathy - alphabetically has been very kind to me!), and I'm touched that you feel enamored enough to include.

Now, I must go and check out some people that I didn't know but look forward to finding, thanks to your recommendations.

Cheers!

Danny.