It's the start of a new year, and what better way to kick it off with it than a tradition I started back in July of 2008?This is the type of post that really makes me happy. It's my way of paying it forward to a community that already has given back to me so much, in so many different ways. What better way to do this than joining forces with Louis Gray, who is one of the most vocal and positive supporters of the community we all have come to love, FriendFeed.
This post highlights 10 FriendFeed members that I feel are of value to the community. People often ask and recommend other FriendFeed members for this list. All that I can say to that is, whoever is on my radar, I try and take notice of. I have close to 1,000 people following me on FriendFeed, and I reciprocate back to about the same. Therefore if you are active on FriendFeed and subscribed to me, rest assured that your time will come. If you are not subscribed to me, check out my feed, and if we share the same interests, you can also follow me too. I do my best to follow everyone back, just as long as you are active on FriendFeed and contribute some type of value to the community.
Previous FriendFeed members to follow lists can be found for the 2008 months of July, September, November and December.
1) AJ Batac
Short Bio: AJ is the cofounder of Egghub. There he oversees the day-to-day operations covering design conceptualization, implementation and execution. His background is strong in web development, usability, human interface design and search engine optimization. AJ is a tremendous contributor to FriendFeed, he is one of the more active users on the site. What I like about his feed is the diversity of content he shares and posts. You will always find something interesting, ranging from humorous to technical.
What they find interesting: Humorous, Tech, Web Design, Web 2.0, Social Media
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: allanjosephbatac.com/blog
2) April Buchheit
Short Bio: April is the mother of two beautiful children, and the wife of Paul Buchheit, one of FriendFeed's cofounders. To quote Louis Gray " Prior to Mona, she was the finder of amazingly funny things for me. Now a good mix of funny/odd items, and baby pics. Good combo." Myself being a parent of a 7 month old daughter, I can appreciate this, and I love baby pics, who does not? Just as Louis has the most adorable twins, April and Paul's kids are cute as could be. It's a refreshing change to see, and one I often look forward to on FriendFeed. She also shares some very interesting and unique content to say the least. Nowhere else on FriendFeed can you find an article on sunbathing in the living room using oven stoves and heat walls.
What they find interesting: Parenting, Humorous, Odd, General and Interesting News
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: camilla-april.blogspot.com
3) Igor Poltavskiy
Short Bio: Igor is a serious techie and blogger who lives in Russia. Igor blogs about the latest technology trends, products, and social media/networking applications. He is always on the look out for cutting edge stuff to blog about, and does some fantastic product reviews as well. Igor's feed always has something for everyone. There is a never dull moment. You can always count on Igor to randomly comment and like stuff. Sometimes he pops up from nowhere, but when he does, it's always a pleasant surprise. If I ever traveled to Russia, Igor would be the first person I would look up.
What they find interesting: Technology, Web 2.0, Social Media
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: scabr.com
4) Internet Strategist
Short Bio: Rose is a former IBM Customer Engineer. Nowadays, she runs her own business, specializing as an independent consultant. She assists online businesses in increasing conversions and profitability. She has a strong focus and skill set on creating, optimizing, and managing PPC search engine campaigns. If I was looking to take my business to the next level, this is someone I would contact in a heartbeat. On FriendFeed she defines the true meaning of "paying it forward." Rose repeatedly shares other FriendFeeder's content, and is always looking to help people out in anyway she can. Her feed is filled with nothing but quality content. She is all work with very little play, that's something I truly admire. She is a very rare breed, and I'm happy to have the pleasure of interacting with her on FriendFeed, and her blog as well.
What they find interesting: Personal Growth, Social Media, Technology, Collaboration
FriendFeed:Subscribe | Blog: growmap.com
5) Ken Stewart
Short Bio: Ken is a technology solutions manager for Sharp Business Systems. Ken's strengths are on managing and growing professional services, training, and customer care groups. He is also responsible for oversight of all branch technology functions. Ken is a very smart and sharp thinker, he also frequently guest posts on Louisgray.com. Ken is starting to become very active on FriendFeed, and his shares and posts are very thoughtful, intelligent and interesting. I always find something of interest when I visit his feed.
What they find interesting: Social Media, Technology, Web 2.0, Humorous
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: changeforge.com
6) Kol Tregaskes
Short Bio: Kolin is an Evenflow/Data Coordinator at Mono Consultants, located in the United Kingdom. He is a highly skilled IT and telecoms professional with a sound knowledge of business and customer service. Kolin also has a passion for photography and runs his own photography business. Kolin, for the most part is very active on FriendFeed. He shares a variety of content, but what like the most is the visual art that he posts. Kolin makes the rounds on FriendFeed, you can be sure you will always run into him somewhere on the site.
What they find interesting: Art, Photography, Technology, Humorous, International News
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: squashyfrog.com
7) Lou Cypher
Short Bio: Lou hails from Jakarta, Indonesia. Lou is a dedicated and very talented coder. He creates and builds a multitude of useful Grease monkey scripts, Firefox scripts, and Yahoo pipes just to name a few. Lou usually shares content related to technology, programing and applications. Lou also frequently shares other FriendFeed member's content, and is a great value to the community. He is quiet, but he is always in the background, secretly working on the next big thing.
What they find interesting: Programing, Technology, Applications, Web 2.0
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: loucypher.wordpress.com
8) Marshall Kirkpatrick
Short Bio: Marshall is the lead blogger and vice president of content development at ReadWriteWeb. If you are a regular at RWW, you have probably read his posts many times. It's hard to pick a favorite blogger, but he ranks up there in the top ten for me. Marshall has a very clear and unique writing style, and is one of the reasons why RWW is a daily must read for anyone in the technology field. I cant forget Sarah Perez and the other RWW bloggers too. On FriendFeed he shares mainly technology and social media related content. Marshall recently got married on New Years eve to his partner of five years. I hope you are enjoying married life Marshall, and congratulations on tying the knot!
What they find interesting: Social Media, Technology, Semantic Web, Web 2.0
FriendFeed: Subscribe
9) Mo Kargas
Short Bio: Mo is a Web and New Media developer residing in Australia. Mo has a strong skill set in website and web application development. Mo is pretty much the jack of all trades when it comes to web technologies. Anything and everything from Drupal development to AJAX, to open source content management frameworks, Mo can tackle. Mo is pretty active on FriendFeed and is a great contributor to the community. His feed consists of a variety of items, and like Kol, he shares some amazing visual art.
What they find interesting: Web Development, Social Media, Technology, Humorous,
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: reactiondynamics.com/blog
10) Valeria Maltoni
Short Bio: If this list was not in alphabetical order, Valeria would have been number one. Valeria is the Director of Marketing Communications at SunGard Availability Services, located in Philadelphia. Valeria is a leading voice and thought leader when it comes to social media/marketing. Her blog has been an inspiration to many, including myself. When Valeria speaks, people listen, literally. She is also a consultant and speaker who works on the client side in corporate America. She works effectively with CEOs and senior management teams to make a significant impact on the areas that are important to them. She has lectured and mentored some of the top CEOs of the biggest corporations in the world, including IKEA . Valeria is also a Fast Company expert blogger and a contributor to Marketing Profs Daily Fix, and Marketing 2.0. She is also a co-author of The Age of Conversation, a groundbreaking ebook collaboration by 103 of today's top marketing writers. I would need another 10 pages to list all of her impressive and remarkable accomplishments. Valeria is a very active Twitter user, but thanks to Robert Scoble, she is starting to spend a lot more time on FriendFeed. There is a reason why I share and promote her content every single day on FriendFeed, now do you see why?
What they find interesting: Marketing, Public Relations Communications, Social Media, Technology
FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: conversationagent.com
Read more by Mike Fruchter at MichaelFruchter.com.