FollowFriday Rockstars May 15, 2009

One of the things I love most about Twitter is how it can bring out the best in so many people. In my tweets I use "rockstar" quite a bit. I also blip a few songs about rockstars going out to my tweeps. To me a rockstar is someone who simply shines. Something beautiful and wonderful comes out from them. It is not about follower count. It's not about how often they tweet. It's not even really what they tweet about. It's about people that really help make Twitter what it is by simply being who they are.

Each week I try and share with everyone some people on Twitter I think are worth following & getting to know better. I am doing it this way because I think that a simple 140 character recommendation isn't enough. Like many others that use Twitter, I believe in quality over quantity. I hope that some quality contacts come from this. That you personally can find one or more people from this list that you can also become friends with, network with & maybe get to know a little bit better.

HalSparks - For my first time, I'm actually including a real life celebrity - and with good reason. I've known of Hal Sparks since his stint on E!'s Talk Soup. Since then, he's been a host for a number of different entertainment shows, played one of the main characters on "Queer as Folk," been in a rock band (and is a surprisingly great singer), done stand-up comedy and is now pretty active on Twitter.  I've been following Hal for a while now. I think he's setting a great example of how a "personality" can use Twitter effectively and can communicate with their fan base. He actually does interact with people, DM's with those he follows back and "gets" it.  

TPR2 - Terry is a genuine sweetie. Although a serious business man (more on that in a bit), like me, he believes that the best reward we can get is by bringing a bit of sunshine to other people's days. He's taken it a step further by starting MyHugClub. Terry's a feel good person that you can't help but like. He hails from New Zealand and has homes in 3 cities.  Terry owns 2 Real Estate Agencies, 2 Mortgage Broking Firms, 2 insurance agencies and 2 Financial Planning Practices. He also builds homes for people as well. Lately he's been making the transition to web geek. Terry's a doting dad to two boys who he loves to bits: Alex who is 6 months old and Bailey (featured in his avatar) is 4 years old. If you want to network with a sharp man that is compassionate, look no further.

WiseLeo  - Leonid and I connected over music, namely our mutual love of Sarah Brightman (although both of us have very diverse musical tastes). Leonid's a sharp guy and someone that I think is going places. He truly engages with his followers. He claims to be a world-class computer expert, and with 15 years of experience he probably is one. Among his many talents, he can take your laptop with a crashed hard drive and make it work "like it never happened (tm)". Leonid can also fix computers remotely when anti-malware programs do not work. Think about it before you accept someone's offer to return your computer to you "in a few days". When not solving computer puzzles, he writes insightful articles on how to use Twitter and entrepreneurship in general. Other interests include auto racing and dance. On Twitter, Leonid answers DMs and @replies fairly quickly. Oh, and he recently won Mashable's Twitter Tips contest so be sure to read those articles. One of his services is professional Twitter account management. Ask him anything, and he will probably have an answer for you or direct you to someone who can answer it.  Lastly, Leonid is an accomplished public speaker who can explain highly technical matters in plain English.

ruhanirabin - Ruhani is a super sweet guy that I'm glad to be call a Twitter friend. He kids with me about me being the Queen of Twitter, but to me, he shows true loyalty to everyone - without ever expecting anything in return. He's the epitome of what a giver looks like on Twitter & in life in general. He's my hero. :-) Ruhani is originally from Bangladesh and is now residing in Malaysia.  He is currently a Chief Tech Architect/Tech director at one of the topmost Interactive Agency in Malaysia. He has extensive knowledge in software and web development industry and related technologies. He is a technology evangelist and explorer. Ruhani likes anything related to web 2.0 and social media. Although he used to be a hardcore developer, he now manages people. He enjoys listening to mainstream rock - and ladies, he is single! (Psst... he has a great sense of humor and is also very respectful.)

vardenrhode - Vaughan has been enmeshed in design ever since he took his first computer art class while getting a BFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  What started as something of a hobby - opening title sequence design for his classmates in school - became a full fledged professional pursuit as the years passed. He's fueled by a driving passion for visual art, design, and color.  He brings his life experiences, his instincts, and most importantly his passion into anything he does. If he's not out looking for beautiful things to be inspired by, he's probably watching a movie or writing a screenplay. Vaughan is currently located in Los Angeles, CA but would love to work with you no matter where you are. Vaughan is a super guy, uses Twitter to share links & communicate on a variety of subjects. He's not a time waster and focuses on quality over quantity. A no-nonsense kind of guy.

There are many other people I wanted to include on this list. But there's always next #FollowFriday for that :)

Of course, you're more than welcome to follow me too :) I tweet a lot. I try to interact with followers to the extent I can. I spin tunes at Blip.fm. I share links I think are interesting. I'm a news junkie, voracious consumer of information - much of it useless but that which amuses me in some way.


For information on what #followfriday is, you can read here.
For information on why I do this weekly list, you can read here