I published a post on Monday that made a case for Twitter as a crowdsourcing tool.
With the right management of Twitter, you can gain a team of brilliant people curating content for you.
To provide a running start with this concept of Twitter crowdsourcing, here are five people who deliver the “goods.” In short, they consistently capture valuable information that I otherwise would have missed.
1. @Frank_Strong (Frank Strong)
Blog: The Sword and Script
Frank was kind enough to repost my Mom’s video, but this listing is not a quid pro quo. Though steeped in PR (communications director at LexisNexis), he makes a concentrated effort to dig out content that touches all aspects of digital marketing and from sources off the beaten the path, at least from a communications perspective. It’s clear that his curation must pass his own litmus test, “Does this interest me?”
Sample Tweet (Link Source: Portent)
2. @Powerfulpoint (Gavin McMahon)
Blog: Make a Powerful Point
If you buy into my thesis that communicators typically come from a word background – which explains their struggle with visual storytelling – Gavin is your man. Starting with storytelling as a whole, his Twitter curation emphasizes the visual dimension. Equally important, there’s an inclusiveness to much of the content that doesn’t require an MFA (though he will periodically point you to a crash course on color). His webinar earlier in the year on creating presentations was one of the best I’ve ever heard on the topic.
Sample Tweet (Link Source: Pacific Standard, The Science of Society)
3. @LeoWid (Leo Widrich)
Blog: Buffer Blog (others contribute)
Don’t exhaust energy trying to guess his age. Just follow the guy. His contributed Lifehacker post on the science behind storytelling should be required reading for business communicators. Leo walks to his trombone player which comes through in a Twitter feed that examines all aspects of business, not just storytelling and communications.
Sample Tweet (Link Source: PsyBlog)
4. @Kellblog (Dave Kellogg)
I met Dave several years ago. He was CEO of MarkLogic, a company we supported. He fired us, and while I still believe to this day that he missed the root cause on the internal side, I’ve continued to admire his willingness to speak his mind. While his Twitter feed does partly depend on the typical suspects – BusinessInsider, The Wall Street Journal, etc. – it comes with the context of a CEO who has a take. And he does periodically gravitate to communications as demonstrated by his post, “Woe is Media, Lessons from Tidemark’s PR.”
Sample Tweet (Link Source: The Economist)
5. @thecommsdept (Joe Kelly)
Blog: the comms dept
A European who relocated to China for a gig at Huawei, Joe curates British media properties that Americans should read but don’t: The Telegraph, the BBC, Financial Times and The Guardian. Plus, his Twitter purview includes a look at the China scene which can periodically jar the sensibilities of a Westerner with those “life is better than fiction” moments.
Sample Tweet (Link Source: People’s Daily)
Perhaps you’ve decided that putting out a few missives each day on Twitter is not a good use of time.
And you’re definitely not going to jump into the Twitter fray, much less attempt to engage others.
No problem.
You can still transform Twitter into a valuable crowdsourcing tool by simply tracking the right individuals.
Leave the digging to them.
Comments
Frank Strong
The perspective is mutual, Lou. You have a very different take on things than the usual echo chamber. You speak with a candor that very few or your peers among agency CEOs offer.
hoffman
Hey Frank, appreciate the positive words.
Jeff Domansky
Great suggestions Lou and I echo your nod to Frank Strong and Leo Widrich as marketing must-follows.
hoffman
Good hearing from you Jeff. Beyond the individuals, the Buffer corporate blog serves as an “exhibit A” on how do thought leadership the right way. The posts prove that even in this age of micro-attention spans, people will read longer pieces if the content deserves it.