Twitter: Only as Good as the Accounts You Follow
Let’s face it – Twitter is only as good as the accounts you choose to follow. If you follow people with nothing interesting to say, your feed can wind up looking like a volcanic splattering of the worst kind of Internet sludge. But, if you manage to curate a Twitter feed that picks you up, makes you laugh, or tells you what you need to know, it can be like plugging into your own personal Internet of Awesomeness.
Don’t know what to do if your Twitter feed already looks like a hot mess? Well, in addition to voraciously clicking “Unfollow” on those pointless-post accounts, think of it as spring cleaning! We recommend following a few new accounts that can impart enjoyable insight, bring you bonuses, and keep you in the loop.
Check out the Twitter accounts of some of your favorite celebrities, influential people in your work industry, leading newsmakers, or even comedic parody accounts. Get amazed, get inspired, and don’t miss out on all the cool perks Twitter has to offer.
Add a little color to your account feed with our top 6 picks for summer 2016 below!
Lin-Manuel Miranda – @Lin_Manuel
If you need an introduction to who Lin-Manuel Miranda is, you might be living under a rock. This actor, rapper, composer, creator and star of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton IS history in the making. Not only has the hip-hop genius done the impossible by making pop music and musical theatre friends again, but his hit show about one of America’s Founding Fathers has reached critical cult status. Lin-Manuel Miranda helps Hamilton fans cut the lengthy ticket lines by Ham-ing it up online. Plus, he posts the best inspirational Tweets to get your creative juices flowing!
Lee Clow’s Beard – @leeclowsbeard
If you’re in advertising, you know Lee Clow. If you aren’t in advertising, get to know him. This creative genius and longtime friend of Steve Jobs was behind Apple’s “Think Different” campaign, the Energizer Bunny, California Cooler, and the Taco Bell Chihuahua. Ironically, Lee Clow himself has no personal participation or presence on social media. So, when an account authored by Lee Clow’s facial hair hit the Internet in 2009, people were eager to gobble up daily offerings of advertising anecdotes, advice, criticisms, and witticisms from one of advertising’s greatest luminaries (theoretically).
As it turns out, the parody account was launched by Dallas-based freelancer Jason Fox, and in collaboration with Clow himself, has grown the account to more than 40,000 followers.
Grammar Police – @_grammar_
You may not think a typo every now and then matters, but IT DOES. It matters because people always notice. Sure, digital tools have changed the way we write, but practicing good grammar is a staple for achieving credibility, clarity, professionalism, and respect. This delightfully educational account reinforces the importance of language and performs a much-needed public service by informing the Twitter-sphere when a well-followed author has made an error (like @DCUO below, who has 91.7K followers).
HowStuffWorks – @HowStuffWorks
It’s important to layer in some general trivia knowledge to your Twitter feed – just to keep you on your toes – and HowStuffWorks is a perfect solution. They’re an excellent source of unbiased, reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works. They cover every topic under the sun, from how caffeine affects the human body to how to tie fishing rods to a roof rack to why golf balls have dimples!
Pakalu Papito – @pakalupapito
This random, brutally honest observer of life is one of the funniest Twitter personalities to ever grace the platform. Somehow, the person (or people?) behind this account has miraculously managed to remain anonymous to his/her 1.55 million followers, while delivering hilarious daily tidbits that’ll make you think, “It’s not just me!”
MIT Tech Review – @techreview
Now that your Twitter feed is almost perfect, you’ll probably wake up tomorrow only to be bombarded by a hundred new social media outlets, apps, trackers, and more gadgets and gizmos than you can count. That is why you need to follow the MIT Technology Review. This Twitter account equips followers with go-to global technology news and user experience insights people everywhere need to easily understand a world that’s shaped by technology.
