As most of you know, there is a thing called #FollowFriday that happens on Twitter.

At its purest, it has good intentions – highlight the people you like to follow on Twitter so others can get to know them too.

But, like anything else in life, people got lazy and found shortcuts and suddenly your Twitter stream every Friday was full of tweets that just had Twitter handles included without any context or reason to follow those people.

There is no value in that and, let’s be real, it’s pretty annoying.

So, on May 29, 2009, we started doing #FF a little bit differently. At first, it was a list of people in a blog post with a couple of sentences about each person. Eventually it evolved into one person per week and has become one of our most popular blog posts.

Here is the complete compilation of the 2012 recommendations.

  1. Kristine Simpson: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+, and Running a PR Life…and even interviewed by us on Inside PR as The Real Podcaster.
  2. Krista Giuffi: You can find her on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on SlideShare, and blogging at PR in Pink.
  3. Tyler Orchard: You can find him on LinkedInTwitterGoogle+, and writing at Talking Points, his blog.
  4. Tony Bennett: You can find all of his social networks by clicking here.
  5. Adam Justice: He has a couple of websites and blogs (you can find him writing about social media atadamjustice.me and about technology and the web at adam-justice.com), but mostly you should check out Social Media Sun.
  6. Frank Strong: You can find Frank on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on Google+, on the Vocus blog, and writing on his own blog, The Sword and the Script.
  7. Heather Tweedy: Check her out on TwitterLinkedInTumblr, and her own blog.
  8. Paul Roberts: Check him out on TwitterLinkedInGoogle+, or even old school it and email him.
  9. Andy and Trout: So check them out, subscribe, friend them  on Facebook, and tell them I sent you so I can get buttons!
  10. Keith Privette: Check him out on TwitterGoogle+LinkedInFacebook, and on his blog.
  11. Ifdy Perez: heck her out on TwitterGoogle+,LinkedInPinterest (!!!), and on Blip TV where she does an Ignite presentation on Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington.
  12. Patti Knight: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+LinkedIn, our Facebook page, in the comments here, and as my keeper.
  13. Paul Sutton: You can find him on TwitterGoogle+, LinkedInBottle PR Uncorked, and FutureComms.
  14. Kevin Fawley: Check him out on TwitterGoogle+LinkedIn, at Fearless Hustle, and on my favorite…Pinterest!
  15. Andrea Hypno: You can find him on TwitterGoogle+, on StumbleUpon, on his blog, and in the comments here several times a week
  16. Ted Weismann: You can find Ted at Down to Social Business, on Twitter, on Google+, on LinkedIn, and on Facebook
  17. Dallas Kincaid: You can check him out on Twitter, his blog, and maybe (if you’re really nice) he’ll accept you as a Facebook friend
  18. Kelly Dietrich: He’s not really online, but you can check out his recommendation by clicking the link over there <—–.
  19. Lisa Grimm: Check her out on TwitterLinkedInGoogle+, and her blog
  20. Lisa Gerber: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+, and her blog at Big Leap Creative.
  21. Pat Rhoads: This is a little bit different recommendation. Pat lost his wife unexpectedly and wrote about his loss. You can find the first post here. You’ll also find Pat’s and Rowan’s (their daughter) first Christmas without Aimee, and their anniversary, and Valentine’s Day, and her birthday, and Mother’s Day.
  22. Michael Bowers: You can find Mike on TwitterIdeas to Deals (his blog), and hanging out on the Ohio Growth Summit blog
  23. Nate Riggs: You can find Nate all over the web, including TwitterLinkedInYouTubeVimeo(where you’ll see a video with me; skip to the very end to see the outtakes), Quora,Google+, and his blog.
  24. Rebecca Todd: You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
  25. Yvette Pistorio: You can find her on Twitter (Spin Sucks and personal), FacebookLinkedInPinterest,Google+, and here.
  26. Deb Dobson: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+LinkedIn, and on Just My Take (even though she hasn’t posted there in nearly a year, which I will shame her into doing).
  27. Anne Reuss: You can find Anne not only on her personal accounts (TwitterPinterest,Google+LinkedIn, and her own blog), but also on Twitter and Facebook for 360Connext.
  28. Jennifer Windrum: Like her SMAC! Facebook page so you are updated as her lung cancer campaign grows, subscribe to WTF, Lung Cancer?
  29. Allen Mireles: You can find her on Google+LinkedInTwitter, on our Facebook page, and on her own blog
  30. Barrett Rossie: He’s on his blog, he’s on Twitter, he’s on Google+, and he’s onLinkedIn.
  31. Lindsay Bell: You can follow her on Twitter, find her on Google+, connect with her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her blog, or hang out with her on Spin Sucks.
  32. Ralph Dopping: There are many places you can check him out online, including: TwitterFacebook,LinkedInGoogle+YouTube, and his blog.
  33. Kate Finley: Follow her on Twitter, subscribe to her blog, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
  34. Karl Sprague: Follow him (on Twitter), connect with him (on LinkedIn), and read and subscribe to his blog.
  35. Adam Toporek: You can find him on YouTubeFacebookTwitterLinkedIn, and Google+. You also should subscribe to his blog
  36. Laura Click: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+,LinkedInPinterestSlideshare, and on her blog.
  37. Bill Dorman: You can find him on his blog, on Google+, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter.
  38. Tom Webster:  You can find him on Brand SavantTwitterGoogle+LinkedIn, and on an awesome podcast with Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson.
  39. Kat Krieger: You can find her on TwitterGoogle+,Pinterest (!!!), LinkedIn, and the Brand Fast-Trackers blog.
  40. Andy Crestodina: You can find him on TwitterGoogle+,LinkedIn, and on the Orbit Media blog.
  41. Carmelo Bryan: You can find him on FacebookLinkedIn,Google+, and Twitter. And, if you have a few extra minutes to spare, I highly recommend you read his story.
  42. Joe Thornley: You can find him on TwitterGoogle+FlickrLinkedIn,Pro PR (his blog), and on Inside PR, in our Facebook group, or in our Google+ community.
  43. Heidi Massey: You can find Heidi on TwitterLinkedInGoogle+, and on The Nonprofit Connection.
So there you have it! The 44 recommendations that came with this year.
Now I leave it to you. Who would you like to see highlighted in 2013?

There will not be a Gin and Topics or The Three Things this week.

Have a happy weekend and a very happy New Year! See you in 2013!

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model and has crafted a certification for it in partnership with Syracuse University. She has run and grown an agency for the past 15 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

View all posts by Gini Dietrich