As the number of my #followfriday posts grows, it gets difficult for anyone to find them all, and I’m afraid that some of the earlier people I’ve recommended might get overlooked. So this combines all the lists I’ve made in one place. These are all great people to follow, so if they look interesting to you, follow them! I’ll add my new ones to the beginning every week.
@jafurtado is director of an art library and a professor. He comes up with some of the most interesting articles on literature and the changing face of publishing. He occasionally tweets in Portuguese, (well he does live in Portugal!), but most of them are in English.
@boskel is one of the funniest people on twitter. I first became aware of her when she did some videos with @KellyG5, and she had me on the floor in hysterics. She is a frequent and humorous twitterer, follow her to bring a smile to your face.
@HennArtOnline is multi-talented and very active on twitter. She’s a writer, photographer, artist (see here!) and just about everything else you can think of. She is very active in #12for12k and recently did a 24 hour Tweetathon for them. A good person.
@beth_warren is a clever and witty tweeter who has a blog called “Musings of an Evil Genius” where she writes about “marketing, promotion, social media and anything else” she feels like. She tends to write rather long personal extremely funny pieces that always have a good point to them. Follow her to learn and laugh!
@JonAston is in the marketing strategy field and has a thought provoking blog that runs to all kinds of thoughts, “Thought Process…“, though as with most of us, he ruminates a lot on social media. He’s very active on Twitter and has even inspired a T-shirt (see @beth_warren, above) 🙂 He is very active with #12for12k, a great group of people.
@mfeige is one of those anomalies, a younger adult who uses Twitter. Not only uses it, but uses it a lot! We can only hope this isn’t hurting his studies in college. 🙂 He had already made over 14.000 tweets, so expect some interaction! He has a fondness for the Lakers and cinema, and claims to be a TV addict. He comments so much on blogs we all expect him to blossom into a blogger himself any day now!
@CTK1 is a wild card, you’ll never know what to expect. She is a great blogger, but at this point just gypsy blogs here and there. Extremely brilliant, funny, and master of the one tweet novel. Just don’t argue with her about jazz, be warned!
@AmyWhidden is an author (of the Faculty of Five series) and has a web site that I love. Whatever you do, don’t click the link there that says “Do Not Click Here”! She is ‘cognitively loose’ (her own words!) and is a clever and amusing presence on Twitter. She also claims to live in both North and South Carolina, I don’t know what that’s all about!
@jeffersonreid writes for E! Online, and as he claims, freelances everywhere else. He has wry observations on pop culture and almost everything else. He is full of wisdom, one of my favorite tweets of his was “Warm beer isn’t bad, unless you’ve got cold beer.”
@MaraBG is a kind, compassionate, and funny travelling tweeter. Along with her partner, Stewart, they sold their home and took to the road with a trailer to see America. I don’t know how she manages to keep up with twitter so well, I have a mental vision of their trailer pulled up in front of various coffee houses with free wifi. She has a book discussion group #booktweet and a blog here.
@StaceyMonk is a funny and caring person who is constantly working to help worthy causes. As she says in her bio, she is not your average do-gooder. She has a site called Epic Change that everyone should check out. And yes, she is older than her avatar indicates!
@timjahn has an online interview show based in Chicago called “Beyond the Pedway” where he interviews creative companies. He is also an active, witty tweeter who is not afraid to voice his opinions. I only wish his interviews with companies weren’t just limited to Chicago, he needs to expand!
@TomVMorris is one of America’s foremost philosophers and very active on Twitter. His endless ruminations on various topics are always fascinating. Check his site here. Be warned he occasionally gets involved in punning contests with other tweeters. And he always vanishes from the Twitter stream with a “Pooooof!”
@fjfonseca states he is a music producer and geek. He also has one of the most interesting streams of RT’s that I love to investigate (and often further RT!). These are always nicely hashmarked by topic with his [#unique] bracket style. His site “The Home of Zargon – Snippets of a Geek’s Life” offers his perspective on things geeky and otherwise.
@Sasabelle is extremely funny and being in a very different time zone often around when I’m tweeting at strange hours. She tweets a lot about films and music and has this strange site of photos of shoes. You have to see the shoes. I have 3 pairs of shoes, which I find quite sufficient!
@WhitlowVintage is an online merchant like myself with a site Whitlow Unique Collectibles, but also like me she seems to spend more time on non-business tweeting! In particular, she is a popular dj at blip.fm tweeting songs often.
@jeannevb is a screenwriter working on a great new project, read about it here! She is extremely funny on twitter, and has a hilarious blog on her site about her father and the elusive hunt for a grinder that you have to read! She also took my recommendation for a book to read, hey, that’s enough right there! Follow her.
@davefleet is another Canadian, I seem to follow a lot of them, must be something in the water! He works in social media and is a frequent tweeter of both the informative and funny. He has a fantastic blog at davefleet.com, “Exploring the intersection of communications, marketing and social media” which pretty much tells you what it’s about!
@Cynsheis is funny and caring, and creates interesting art that she call “doodles”, but not like any doodles I’ve ever seen, check them out here! She claims to be abrasive, but she’s just upfront and honest in her tweets.
@smashadv is witty and profound, he can be sparing of words when he needs to be, see his one word #FF posts here at his blog Obsessed With Conformity. He is CEO of Smashcommunications, a very 21st century ad agency, ” a real advertising agency operating in a virtual work environment”. A very fun guy to follow!
@Doc_Remy is a fascinating individual who I still am trying to figure out. She is a neuroscientist and an MD, loves science and tech, comes up with fascinating RT’s, and produces musical remix sets online for us to enjoy. She is a kind and compassionate tweeter, follow her, maybe you can figure her out.
@ThomasHensel is one of the deep thinkers, his web page is headed ‘Time Space & Quantum Physics’. His RT’s are always mind-bending, I love this stuff so much! He finds fascinating videos explaining the universe.
@PRCog is the mystery man of Twitter. He works in a Public Relations firm in Manhattan, this is his secret identity! Very knowledgeable, writes a great blog called PR Cog’s Gear Grindings. Very entertaining twitterer, claims to be court jester of twitter, although @ShellyKramer and I both covet this crown.
@KellyG5 makes fantastically funny videos, follow her just to keep up with her antics. She is trying to lift the world one person at a time, see her twitter background for more info!
@_djh (aka David Holliday) is a photographer and does social media and marketing. He claims to have an anti-social twist, but certainly seems social on twitter 🙂 He has a great blog totallyincorrect.com and is a supporter of #12for12k which is always a plus in my book!
@auctionwally is an innovator as well as a traditional auctioneer of long standing. He hosts podcasts, writes for the examiner, and recently has begun experimenting with auctions on twitter. You can find links to his various activities here.
@Pogonina is a Russian chess grandmaster & promoter, model, and author of Chess Kamasutra. Natalia is witty and engaging, and her English is excellent (which is good since I don’t speak Russian!). She has a chess site well worth checking out. Be warned, she has a poll on site, 1st question is what’s your chess rating, 2nd is whether you practice sex during chess tournaments!
@gypsytrading was my first twitter mentor, wickedly funny, deeply caring. She sells antiques and other interesting things. She’s constantly learning and adapting to this new social media world.
@renagades not only sells vinyl records, she has become a writer of note, promoting new talent and covering music and other subjects with an ever increasing skill. (And often incredibly funny in her tweets)
@RVT01 is the hardest working person I know. Scares me sometimes. I’m always trying to get her to take a vacation. Extremely knowledgeable about antiques and collectibles. She will always tell it like she sees it!
@inklesstales is a multi-talented entertainer, web site designer, and general all around wit. She has an award winning site for children, and is a much sought after performer for schools and other groups. She is also the self-proclaimed RT editor for twitter!
@amyjdean runs her own public relations company, and is my partner in tweetexorcist.com. She is passionate about honesty on the web, and is on the cutting edge of the changes in her field which is being drastically changed by social media. A voice to listen to.
What can you say about @DannyBrown, everyone has him on the list of greats to follow. A blogger extraordinaire, champion of causes, founder of #12for12k, and the nicest person you’ll ever meet. I feel honored to call him my friend.
@ponet is incredibly brilliant hidden behind a lot of Woots! When I think of Ponet, I think of the song from the ‘Sound of Music’ that the nuns sing. Follow her for laughs and wisdom.
♫ http://blip.fm/~chelg
She’d outpester any pest
Drive a hornet from its nest
She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl
She is gentle! She is wild!
She’s a riddle! She’s a child!
She’s a headache! She’s an angel!
@sensible is a loving father, a witty writer, and is one of the fastest typists on twitter. This often results in sometimes extremely funny or thought provoking streams of consciousness. Follow him for the unexpected.
@blellow runs a cutting edge company for freelancers & others to network online, is a champion RT’er of all things web page design, and is one of the nicest people on Twitter (she & @DannyBrown will have to duke it out, or, well, outnice each other!
@Cynnergies is somewhat of an enigma to me. A very spiritual person involved in the financial field. Extremely knowledgeable, kind, and at the same time ready to salvo away at injustice! Don’t ever send her an auto DM! A truly good person.
You’ll notice a thread to my choices, kind, funny, caustic wit and telling it like it is. @sethsimonds is all of that and more. I do think he tries to hide the kind part behind a gruff exterior, but he’s really a nice guy. His blogs are always on point and thought provoking.
@xtrmlyincredbly is a teacher by day and a dreamer by night. She tweets strangely evocative passages running through her obviously quirky and creative mind. Usually I can’t RT because she maxes out the tweet, her only fault!
@AlpacaFarmgirl is all things Alpaca. But she’s much more, too. Her always cheery view of rural life on her Alpaca farm, with many pictures and blogs, is great fun to follow. She is also fast becoming a fiber arts fanatic (she’s already a self-proclaimed Alpaca fanatic). As she says in her profile, an ‘unlikely farmer’ – but I rarely have followed anyone who seems so happy with her life. And alpacas are cute! Check them out- http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/
@Aronado is a popular guy with the women on twitter. One of his many endeavors is a video interview show he does with start-up tech companies called Startup Lucky http://startuplucky.com/. He is a frequent and many times irreverent twitterer on many topics. And he claims to be the loudest drummer on the planet!
@attheboutique is not only a great online seller, see her site http://wholesaleincensesticks.com/ , she is also the extremely knowledgeable co-host of the ‘The Selling Circus’ where all things marketing, branding, and e-commerce are discussed. Aside from being a shrewd businesswoman, she is a warm and compassionate person, as I know from personal experience. Follow her on twitter and learn.
@colderICE has been doing podcasts on Internet commerce (colderICE.com) since I first started on twitter, and is not only extremely knowledgeable, but funny as hell when he gets ranting at someone! (this occasionally has been EBay He’s also knocked himself out on charity drives, which I greatly admire. Check him out for a unique perspective
@MisterNoodle is a man of mystery. We do know he is not the guy from Sesame Street. His site NoodleJunction.net claims to be his simple musings, but they seem to me to be extremely thought-provoking. Very engaging on twitter, I early on took his advice to follow a lot more people than I would have, they are a vast pool of knowledge to dip into.
@PRsarahevans is an expert at communications, and is positioned where public relations, journalism, and blogging come together. She is the originator of #journchat. She is also family oriented, as seen in her recent blog series ‘Everything I Learned About Social Networking I Learned from my Mom and Dad’. She is also very active in local causes, recently helping to raise money for a community crisis center.
@ShellyKramer is an engaging and pull no punches twitterer. She has opinions, and isn’t afraid to state them, but never in a mean-spirited way. She’s a self-described information junkie, which I must confess, I am also. She has a marketing and communications agency, and loves social media and Milk Duds, both of which endear her to me. Follow her!
@Zut_Radio is also know as Zut_Moon and broadcasts on twitter from the town of Zutville, a magical, comical virtual village somewhere in virtual Canada. He has numerous lens on Squidoo, with fascinating facts (some of which may even be true) and is funny all the time. I myself am a proud citizen of Zutville, even though an American, which he seems to have certain problems with despite constant statements to the contrary!
@akojen is a funny, caring photographer/writer. Ask her anything about movies, she’ll know (especially zombie movies!) She loves animals, even her new puppy which is driving her crazy! Here is a link to some of her car photos.
@amirmasud is a filmmaker working on his 1st feature film. Funny and provocative tweeter, pursuing his own vision, see examples of some of his short works here on his web page.
@arjunbasu describes himself as author, editor, traveller, husband, dad, foodie, slightly mad. Famous on twitter for his twisters, 140-character short stories that I find amazing that he can keep churning out. I find many of them thought provoking. Follow and read. Author of the book ‘Squishy’, available here.
@brianspaeth Look for witty, sometimes obscure tweets. Claims to be actor/screenwriter /producer, though not necessarily in that order Has written two books and has a great blog (or maybe anti-blog) here, but in a few days will be here. Or maybe there. I give up, but follow him!
@DiscoverClocks is a kind and interesting twitterer besides being a merchant on twitter, one of the good ones. As the name implies, he knows just about everything about vintage and antique clocks. He also does restoration and repair. I took a clock apart once, don’t ask what happened! LOL! Check his site here.
@edwardboches is on the cutting edge of advertising and social media. He is chief creative officer in Mullen Advertising and has a great blog, creativity_unbound that is worth checking out. I find myself RT’ing him quite often.
@johnhaydon is a social media consultant that works with non-profits & small businesses. He is a kind caring person, who uses his marketing skills for good, not evil! He keeps a Resource Superlist For Twitter Folks and check his posts here.
@mayhemstudios In his secret identity he is the head of mayhem studios, a design firm. But on twitter, he is a self-proclaimed media ho, constantly updating us on everything interesting going on. I find myself RT’ing him more than anyone else. He’s also one of the kindest people I know, and takes the time to converse with everyone that tweets him. (Can’t imagine when he gets any work done!). I also know he likes cheeseburgers.
@shirleybrady looks far too young for her extensive resume, writer/editor at Time based in Hong Kong, then moving to New York and People Magazine, then writer/editor of trade magazine Cable World (where she ran it’s website in her spare time). She’s also been a TV producer and writer, before settling down for now as the Community editor of Business Week. A loving mother as evidenced by her tweets, and with a wry commentary on what interests her. One of the best journalists I know.
@Silversmyth is funny, creative, and a talented silversmith. She designs and creates beautiful things out of silver, and loves the challenge of turning your dreams into jewelry. I was joking with her one day and asked if she’d ever made a crown. Of course, she has. Check her stuff out here!
@arikhanson is a great source for PR/Marketing knowledge. One of the focuses of his company, ACH Communications, is working with non-profits, which I think is cool. His blog is always informative, lately he’s been doing a series on PR Rock Stars. He is often witty and actively engages on twitter. He is a supporter of #12for12k (always a plus in my book!)
@BrightBlessings is an e-commerce Wiccan! Kind and creative, she makes most of her own products that she sells on her site. She is an active RTer, most of which I find either informative or funny, my requirements for RT’s!
@BuzzEdition is active in Black Card Circle Foundation and almost as prolific a RT’er as @mayhemstudios, which is really saying something. Follow her also for fun clever tweets. She designs t-shirts, check out her site for her blog and to see her work – Buzz Editions – Where Pop Culture and Entertainment Meets Fashion!
@cleothinksgreen is an ecommerce seller who’s twitter name describes her philosophy. You should check out her site Cleo Thinks Green. She is an artist and loves history and as she claims ‘is not a bot’. Always interesting twitter stream. I forgive her her love of opera.
@Crystalgate is an expert on the Tarot, and is a writer and reader. (Are there writer’s who don’t read?) Waiting for her mystery novel involving Tarot, her cats, and maybe twitter? Visit her page here.
@iamkhayyam Is many things, but almost always funny. I find myself RTing him often. Self described ‘Designer | Wordsmith | Comedian | Radio Guy | Photo Clicker’. Read his blog ‘I Am Khayyam’
@JesseNewhart is another person I find myself RTing a lot. He has a lot of great thoughts on social media and has a great blog here. He is also an artist, and is in the midst of moving, and has written that he will be changing that site to more of an artistic focus, and putting social media stuff elsewhere.
@jonesdel is a journalist for USA Today and a great example of how to be professional and social at the same time on twitter. Famous for his all twitter interview of CEO’s for USA Today (see it here) , he knows how to keep his balance with the new wave of social media. Do not know why he lists his name backwards on twitter.
Posted by booksbelow 
How often have you read in the twitter stream or in someone’s blog what you should or shouldn’t do? It’s constant, all these self-proclaimed Emily Posts of twitterquette will tell you; don’t followfriday, don’t thank for Retweets, do thank for Retweets, don’t try to sell yourself or products, the best way to sell yourself or products, and on and on and on. You know what? Do what you want, Twitter didn’t put them in charge of what Twitter is all about.
Several months ago, 
I list on several different book sites. If something happens to any one of them, it doesn’t tip the balance of my survival as a bookseller. Except one, Amazon. As time passes, the percentage of sales generated by Amazon increases, right now for me it’s somewhere around 75%. They are very successful at what they do, getting their name out there, and when people think book nowadays, they think Amazon. Now Amazon is a private profit-making company, and in general I support their right to do pretty much whatever they want. But what social responsibility does such a company have to people who make their living selling through them?
The recent news by Twitter of it’s intention to legitimize the RT nudged me back to a subject I’ve been meaning to write about for some time, self organization and emergent behavior as evidenced in Twitter. In fact, the Twitter blog announcing this actually used the word emergent. Do you think Twitter demonstrates this?
Thoughts and Observations 