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The 67 people you should follow on Twitter

There are more than 175 million users and 200 million tweets fired off each day, which is enough to give anyone a serious case of social media FOMO (fear of missing out).

But there’s no need to feel overwhelmed.

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Sydney-based social media educator Laurel Papworth (@SilkCharm), who has almost 60,000 Twitter followers, says the most influential tweeters are those who use the tool as a distribution network.

“They find, filter and forward content,” Ms Papworth says.

“They might not be writing it themselves, but they’re good at curating.”

Ms Papworth says people are mostly using Twitter for news, politics, and entertainment.

“It’s not just about who’s eating tuna sandwiches, it’s a good place to find people who are showing leadership in their field,” Ms Papworth says.

We’ve scoured the Twittersphere to collate a list of the people you should be following.

From politics to sport, fashion and finance, these tweeters demand attention.

News/politics

Karl-Stefanovic-and-his-brother-Pete-Stefanovic

Peter Stefanovic (L) with his brother Karl. Photo: Getty

Mark Colvin: Renowned ABC journalist and presenter of radio program PM, the self-proclaimed ‘lifetime lance-corporal in the awkward squad’ tweets intriguing updates on a range of diverse topics, from the Sri Lankan elections to local politics. He’s also an avid retweeter and his feed is a goldmine of opinion leaders. 

Peter Stefanovic: A Europe, Middle East and Africa correspondent for Channel Nine news, Stefanovic is on the ground as most major global news breaks. He offers compelling snapshots from the frontline of developing stories like the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris and the ongoing violence on the Gaza Strip. 

Latika Bourke: In her Twitter bio, Bourke proudly proclaims her job as Fairfax political reporter as “just one piece of my life”. That may well be the case, but the Walkley Award winner is one of the sharpest political commentators in the country with an access all-areas pass to our pollies. 

Sharri Markson: Ahhh the drama. Markson is the media editor of The Australian and an unabashed commentator on all the juiciest elements of public discourse. Her feed is a breeding ground for gossip, intrigue and conflict. While she’s a little too fond of her News Limited bosses, it’s hard to look away.

Mike Bowers:  A photographer for The Guardian Australia, once a fortnight Bowers will piece together some of the most riveting moments in the upper house in his #BrickSenate series. Who’s your favourite character? Punk Penny Wong? Cowboy Heffernan? Eric Abetz as an actual robot?

And more: Nine Network political editor Laurie Oakes, ABC election analyst Antony Green, New York-based The Guardian journalist Estelle Tang and political journalist and contributor to The New Daily Paul Bongiorno, plus the ever controversial Mike Carlton.

Sport

Alex McClintock: Like your sports coverage served up with a healthy side of sarcasm? McClintock is your man. The deputy editor online at Radio National is particularly invested in boxing and his enthusiastic musings are enough to convert even the most avid non-fans. Acerbic social commentary included.

Shane-Warne-

Shane Warne. Photo: Getty

Erik Gudris: American tennis writer Gudris will help fulfil your dream of being courtside at the world’s grand slam tournaments with his transportive observations. Writing for USA Today, he has the kind of travel schedule most fans could only dream of. He’s also not immune to swapping off-court gossip either. 

Titus O’Reily: Quick-witted and fearless, O’Reily’s fictionalised take on Australian sporting news is effortless parody. He’s particularly adept at crafting tongue-in-cheek captions for photos of clueless AFL footballers.

Ben Rothenberg: Another American tennis writer, Rothenberg entertains and enthralls his 29,000 followers with in-depth tweets about his adventures covering the sport for The New York Times. His twitpics are also lots of fun and he’s been known to tweet about baseball and basketball too.

Shane Warne: Okay, so it’s not always sport Warnie tweets about, but who could resist the opportunity to get inside the mind of one of Australia’s greatest cricketers? Warnie’s wisdom stretches from his disdain for the meddling media to his jam-packed social schedule to what he had for dinner. Cricket occasionally gets a mention too.

And more: Journalist and The New Daily contributor Angela Pippos, Socceroos star Tim Cahill, rugby union player Quade Cooper, and horse racing guru Francesca Cumani.

Technology/Media

Mark-Pesce

Mark Pesce.

Mark Pesce:  The Australian inventor, author, educator, entrepreneur and broadcaster’s regular tech tweets are interspersed with complaints about Sydney’s climate, politics and internet memes.

Josh Taylor: A self-proclaimed politics, media, tech, and pop culture geek, Taylor is a senior journalist for @ZDNet whose thought-provoking tweets launch some engaging debates. 

Gizmodo: Find out the latest information and news collated about technologies that change the way we live, work, love, play, think, and feel.

Jeff Jarvis: The New York-based blogger and journalism professor is the go-to guy for what’s happening – or will happen – in digital media. At last count he had 145,000 followers. ‘Nuff said.

David Carr: By his own admission, Carr is not the sort of guy you’d usually expect to find at The New York Times. A former cokehead who fell on some pretty rough times in his youth, he’s now the must-read pop culture columnist at the venerable masthead. He “tweets hi-low, news, whatnot” to an audience approaching half a million.

Fashion/style

Kendall-Jenner

Kendall Jenner. Photo: Getty

Laura Brown: The hilarious Aussie editor of the American Harper’s Bazaar, Brown proves not everyone in the fashion world is haughty and serious. Her self-deprecating missives sent from her New York home base and her impressive celebrity connections are both highlights.

Kirstie Clements: The author and former editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia provides priceless red carpet commentary, style tips and trend updates, interwoven with entertaining personal anecdotes.

Go Fug Yourself: Heather and Jessica, the ladies behind the popular fashion blog, are ruthless in their appraisals of celebrity style. No one is safe. 

Kendall Jenner: Keep up with Jenner’s day-to-day life as a fashion model via her feed. Jenner first came to public attention for appearing in the E! reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Gigi Hadid: Maybe she’s born with it – or maybe she’s just plain gorgeous? The 19-year-old modeling sensation is the new face of Maybelline New York. Follow her feed for an exclusive backstage pass to her catwalk shows and model shoots.

Health and wellbeing

Jamie-Oliver

Jamie Oliver. Photo: Getty

Michelle Bridges: Initially a personal trainer, Bridges made her big break on television when she was a trainer on reality program The Biggest Loser. Today she is Australia’s most influential health and fitness expert and co-founder of Michelle Bridges 12WBT health program. She is your go-to for health tips, recipes and inspirational quotes to keep you motivated.

Dalai Lama: The 14th Dalai Lama offers inspirational quotes as he travels the globe hosting seminars, meeting dignitaries and preaching peace and love. What’s not to like?

Jamie Oliver:  The celebrity chef has been a driving force behind the real-food movement in multiple countries. The man knows his food as well as anyone in the world and tweets out a lot of great recipes. Lovely jubbly.

Lola Berry: When it comes to getting the world excited about health and good food, there is very little Berry won’t do. She says she has a secret: the most nutritious, healthy food is also the tastiest.

Rosemary Stanton: One of Australia’s best known and trusted nutritionists, Dr Rosemary Stanton says her goal is to “promote a healthier diet with enjoyable foods chosen to have minimal environmental impact”. Relatively new to Twitter, Stanton’s advice is traditional but beneficial.

And more: US dietician and “clean eating guru” Diane Welland, another leader of the paleo movement, Robb Wolf, popular fitness training motivational success stories and training information CrossFit.

Science

Dr-Karl-Kruszelnicki-

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Photo: Getty

Reid Wiseman: Get inside the mind (and ship) of a real-life NASA astronaut. Wiseman’s stunning bird’s eye view photos, taken from outer space, are mesmerising.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki: The science guru has an answer to almost every dumb question you’ve ever thought to yourself, like “what if the world stops spinning?” or “do antioxidants really work?”.

New Scientist: Want to know what’s going on in the science world without having to do too much legwork? This feed is a concise breakdown of current research and discoveries. It also provides great ideas for dinner party discussion topics.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson: With three million followers, Tyson is a veritable Twitter guru. The astrophysicist is a pool of wisdom and humour whose 140-character offerings are infused with priceless information.

Music

Lorde

Lorde. Photo: Getty

Lorde: The talented teen takes a mean selfie but its her insightful social commentary that sets her apart from her peers. She uses her profile to criticise the paparazzi, promote the work of her famous friends (ahem, Taylor Swift) and complain about teenager-y things like bad hair days and acne. 

Ezra KoenigThe Vampire Weekend frontman spends so much time responding to tweets, it’s amazing he can still crank out music.

Pink: The American singer, songwriter, and actress shares her passionate political views to an army of followers and fans.

Cher: The singer known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, is outlandish and outspoken with her tweets, and isn’t opposed to the odd emotion.

Katy-Perry

Katy Perry. Photo: Getty

Lily Allen: The singer-songwriter is completely unfiltered and we love her for it. Watch as she shares her anxieties, travel plans and opinions with her trademark British charm. Kudos must also be paid for her thoughtful comments about world events.

Katy Perry: One of the most followed people in the world, Perry’s quirky feed is laden with emojis, music videos and memes.

Yoko Ono: The avant-garde artist gives us plenty to ponder. Or at least read, and then scratch our heads.

And more: For the latest music news and reviews Rolling Stone.

Finance/money

David Scutt: Scutt has been labeled one of the sharpest finance tweeters in Australia, largely because of the speed and quality of his analysis, as well as his predictions and excellent charts. He also shares live commentary on data releases.

Adele-Ferguson

Adele Ferguson.

Penny Golightly: Based in London and shares money saving tips and sets budget challenges for those wanting to tighten the purse strings.

Stephen Koukoulas: Koukoulas is the Managing Director of Market Economics, an experienced economist and a former senior economics advisor to Julia Gillard. He always has strong views on the health of the Australian economy and isn’t shy in sharing them.

Adele Ferguson: A senior business writer and columnist for The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review, Ferguson is also author of Gina Rinehart: The untold story of the richest woman in the world. Her tweets about the business sector are on the pulse.

Marsha Collier: Keep up with Collier’s tweets if you want to learn about the latest in technology or how to use and make money on eBay and online. Author of a whopping 48 books, including Social Media Commerce, eBay and Online Customer Service, Collier was also listed in 2011 Forbes Top 10 Women Social Media Influencers.

Comedy/parody

ABC News Intern: Fictitious work experience kid “slaving his guts out” in the news and current affairs division of “Aunty”. Direct quote: “It’s not like they pay me, so these satirical thoughts are my own”.

Neil-Patrick-Harris

Neil Patrick Harris. Photo: Getty

Tim Ferguson: The comedian and contributor to The New Daily offers satirical “breaking news” updates that perfectly send up the ridiculousness of Australian politics.

Seinfeld Today: Seinfeld fans will go crazy for this one as it paints a picture of what the cast would be doing if Seinfeld was still airing today.

Quikipedia: Quikipedia provides nuggets of “information” loosely disguised as fact for when one doesn’t actually have time to partake in proper research.

Neil Patrick Harris: Best known for playing Barney Stinson on the television comedy series How I Met Your Mother, Harris’s tweets mix comic observation, news and gossip. A hashtag #AskNPH encourages fans to post questions to Harris.

And more: Talk show host Ellen Degeneres famous for the “Ellen selfie”, religious parody account The Tweet of God, and wtf renaissance, posting memes of renaissance art.

Movies/books

Irvine Welsh:  Profanity warning! Welsh, the Scottish novelist behind gems like Trainspotting is, ahem, quite colourful when tweeting.

JK-Rowling-

J.K. Rowling. Photo: Getty

Leigh Paatsch: Want to know what to watch tonight at the movies or in your living room? Paatsch will make the decision easy with his concise reviews of new releases, television movies and DVDs. A dab hand at picture research too.

Marc Fennell: Triple j listeners will know Fennell as That Movie Guy, the voice behind those pithy, honest reviews on new release films. His Twitter feed will not disappoint.

Russell Crowe: The actor’s feed is equal parts self-promotion, bizarre ranting and rugby commentary. Things get interesting when he decides to weigh in on current affairs.

J.K. Rowling: The British novelist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, enjoys banter and discussing world issues in her feed. Rowling is known to stand up for her opinions, most recently with comments made surrounding the Paris shootings. She is dedicated to her fan base, staying up way past midnight to answer their questions.

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