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Updated January 28, 2020Have at least loose criteria on who you want to follow. It can be as simple as โpeople who make me laugh,โ โpeople who help me question my deeply held beliefs,โ or โpeople with insider information and interesting insights.โ
Some questions to ponder as you develop the list of people you follow:
Who is saying things I agree with?
Who is saying things I disagree with?
Who is saying things that nobody else is saying?
Always follow people in each category. This will help steel man your own beliefs and expose you to new ideas.
I try to follow people who demonstrate sincere curiosity, willingness to share, have signs that theyโre playing a long game, and are open to criticism and admit when theyโre wrong.Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv), co-founder, JIBABOM!*
If you have favorite authors, podcasters, thinkers, or creators, look them up on Twitter. Often, Twitter is a great space for these people to write short insightful bits in between their long-form work. Following people you admire on Twitter can lead you to other interesting people and ideas. They will often retweet, share, or like the work of other community members, providing you intel about prominent or thoughtful people in your field. This can unveil entire communities you didnโt know existed, and concepts youโve never pondered.
Following people whose work or career paths you respect can be a form of mentorship. Often theyโll share insights into their process, mistakes theyโve made along the way, how theyโve gone from early career to industry leader. Follow these individuals and pay close attention.
Following industry leadersโwhether or not they are your favoritesโis also a good way to stay informed about whatโs happening in your field by following some of the figures who are often at the center of industry news. Here are a few examples of people considered community leaders: