From a Twitter TV deal to a new Google programming language, it’s been a surprising week on the web.

Here’s our pick of the top 5 stories this week, from the serious to the bizarre.

1. From Twitter to TV: Sh*t My Dad Says Gets CBS Deal – A Twitter account got a TV deal…has the social media and mainstream media fusion gone too far?

2. Google’s Plan to Make the Web Twice as Fast – The web is about to get SPDY, writes Barb Dybwad.

3. GO: Google Launches Its Own Programming Language – Google launched a new programming language this week: Ben Parr explains.

4. 7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn – LinkedIn is the leading business network online. Sharlyn Lauby shows us how to make the most of it.

5. 500 Leading Nominees in Mashable’s #openwebawards – The Open Web Awards nominations are drawing to a close. Here’s a peek at the people and sites leading the field.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

Web-based doctor appointment-setting service ZocDoc has noticed an amazing increase of 6250% in Swine Flu-related appointments over flu-related appointments last year (the numbers have been normalized against time for the increased volume). There has been an almost 14x increase in swine flu activity since September. Because of the massively increased demand, ZocDoc recently added “Swine Flu Shot” as a reason for the visit that patients can specify when searching for a doctor.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of flu-related appointments. Same-day flu appointments have increased by 15x since this time last year. Similarly, last year people made flu-related appointments an average of 4 days in advance. Now it is 48 hours on average, and trending downwards,” said Oliver Kharraz MD, ZocDoc’s Chief Medical Officer.

H1N1-Related Appointments Spike

ZocDoc’s data comes from the cities in which the company is active (New York and Washington, DC), where they have about 10% of the market. That’s not a lot, but enough to be statistically significant, and with influenza now widespread in 47 of 50 states in the US, ZocDoc’s data can potentially be taken as an analogue for nation-wide activity. Further, the Centers for Disease Control is reporting a similar increase across the US in doctor reports of influenza like illness.

One of the reasons swine flu has stayed top of mind in the collective conscious of the public is social media. In April we were seeing over 10,000 tweets per hour about swine flu, and while that number has dropped, we are still consistently seeing up to 800 tweets per hour, according to Trendrr graphs, during peak times (note: tweets for “H1N1″ are at approximately the same levels). Swine flu has clearly become a part of the regular daily conversation.

Certainly in part because of social media sites likes Twitter and Facebook, swine flu has continued to stay top of mind among the public, and that could be a factor in driving increased demand for H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine shots.

The Need for Real-Time Health Data

The most difficult part of supporting the demand, said ZocDoc, has not been adding the technical infrastructure — that part was as trivial as adding an item to a couple of drop down menus in the patient and doctor user interfaces. The real challenge has been constantly staying in contact with doctors to make sure that those indicating that they have H1N1 or seasonal flu vaccines actually do have them in stock. ZocDoc told us they have been very proactive about keeping their information as reliable as possible.

“This all underscores the need for systems that introduce new efficiencies to our healthcare system,” said Kharraz. The experience dealing with the swine flu vaccine has been atypical for the company, which rarely has to deal with issues like scarcity and supply and demand that change the availability of a procedure daily. However, it does point to a possible need for real-time capabilities in online healthcare systems.

Real-time could be beneficial not only for patients, but also for doctors and researchers. When ZocDoc asked doctors when they expected to get more shipments of H1N1 vaccine, about half said not until early 2010. Real-time information about patients, doctors, and medications could help keep everyone more informed and keep supply ahead of demand. And that could have a profound impact on the practice medicine, especially during special cases such as a pandemic disease.

See also: HOW TO: Track Swine Flu Online and Google Helps You Find a Flu Shot

Tags: flu shot, graph, swine flu, trends, zocdoc

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

There are 25 billion videos watched each month in the US alone. That’s billion, with a “B.” So it should be no surprise that web video offers an important opportunity for small businesses to connect with a wider audience. For small business owners, online video represents a chance to reach thousands or potentially millions of people using a relatively simple and inexpensive format. All it takes is a video camera and a little time, and your message could very quickly be spread to a large number of new customers.

As with anything, it pays to look at those who have come before and learn from what they’ve done. Here are five successful uses of web video for business and the key point that you can take away from each

1. Mattress Dominoes World Record Attempt

Benson’s for Beds, comes the “Mattress Dominoes World Record Attempt” video, which has racked up around 700,000 views. In the video, which is a lengthy single shot with no cuts, Benson’s employees form a human-and-mattress dominoes chain that extends throughout their entire warehouse. The video is playful, has a humorous ending, and makes Benson’s for Beds seem like a great place to work — just the kind of place you’d feel good about spending money with as a consumer.

The “Mattress Dominoes” video certainly took some planning and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a few tries to get it right, but what’s great about it is that Benson’s created their viral video by using materials that were native to them. They didn’t set out to try doing anything fancy; they made a statement using the products they work with every day in their warehouse.

Lesson: Get creative with what you have.

2. Giant Stuffed Snake

The “Giant Stuffed Snake” video is, quite literally, a hand held video of a very large, 18-foot long, plush stuffed snake sitting on top of a Dodge Neon, while the cameraman talks about the snake and asks a man (presumably the owner of the car) to demonstrate just how large this stuffed animal really is. The video is the work of over-sized stuffed animal retailer BigPlush.com and it has received over 225,000 views. Why has it done so well? That’s hard to tell — viral video is an inexact science — but it probably has something to do with the sheer absurdity of the size of the snake and the way the camera man anthropomorphizes it by expecting it to reply when he says hello. The video literally only took a few minutes to make and cost virtually nothing, proving that you don’t have to spend a lot to make a splash with viral video.

Lesson: Viral video doesn’t have to cost a lot.

3. Fit Yummy Mummy

Holly Rigsby sells a workout routine ebook and DVD set targeted to new moms wanting to burn their baby fat called Fit Yummy Mummy. One of the key ways she promotes her routine is via a YouTube channel, on which she uploads short exercise demonstration videos, as well as other quick videos with tips for busy moms. Though none of Rigsby’s videos have gone broadly viral (she has a number with 10 to 20,000 views, however), she has very smartly targeted her core audience, which is people seeking workout advice. Her low-budget, short video clips show off her expertise and give potential customers a look at what her paid products will be like.

Because navigation on YouTube is largely search based, her videos will be found by those seeking workout advice, and specifically by her target audience of moms. Each video serves as a product demo that points people toward her more detailed, paid products.

Lesson: Know your audience.

4. Will it Blend?

Small home appliance maker Blendtec’s first “Will it Blend” video featured a man in a lab coat turning a handful of glass marbles into dust using one of the company’s home blenders. That video has received over 3.8 million views since it was put online in 2006. Since, the company has created over 90 “Will it Blend?” videos, and served up tens of millions of views. Their most popular video, the iPhone, has well over 7 million plays on YouTube, and Blendtec even launched a Will It Blend? web site, turning the viral clips into a regular video blog.

The videos have certainly gotten a little more flashy since they debuted 3 years ago, but the idea is essentially still the same simple formula: blender + common object (that you wouldn’t normally put in a blender) = viral video hit. Why have these videos worked so well and had so much staying power? In no small part, it is because Blendtec has clearly had a lot of fun with their products. Stodgy sales pitches don’t work on the web, but goofy, wacky, and unexpected almost always does. Blendtec’s videos cleverly show off their unique selling point — how powerful their blenders are — in an entertaining and unanticipated way.

Lesson: Have fun with your product.

5. Penny Pranks

Though the “Penny Pranks” series of videos was actually created by a large chain store (Office Max) and not by a small business, there is still a lesson to be learned from their successful viral campaign. The series of hidden camera videos follows the trials and tribulations of a man trying to pay for goods and services with a bag full of pennies. Predictably, most business owners are not amused, and each video ends with a come-on for a penny sale at Office Max.

The videos, many of which have racked up several hundred thousand views, work because they use humor to push a simple idea: that Office Max is unique in actually wanting your small change. That’s a lesson that can be replicated by any business. Figure out what you do that sets you apart from your competitors, and exploit that notion with simple humor.

Lesson: Highlight what makes you unique.

More business resources from Mashable:

- 5 Advanced Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
- 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
- 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy
- 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small Business
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Lefthome

Tags: List, Lists, small business, youtube

On Tuesday, we wrote about the return of Elf Yourself. OfficeMax has been sponsoring Elf Yourself for the last four years and its an early example of successful, web-based viral campaigns.

OfficeMax decided to get really meta with the Elf Yourself campaign by creating a flashmob in New York City. On November 3 in Union Square, OfficeMax hired several hundred performers to assemble — dressed in elfin gear — and do synchronized choreography for a crowd of delighted and confused passerbys.

Consider this Elf Yourself IRL (in real life):

What do you think of creating a viral campaign for a viral campaign? Is it meta-overload or does the existence of real-life Elf Yourself flash mob bring you holiday cheer? Let us know!

Tags: elf yourself, flashmob, viral campaigns

The Google Wave invite rollout extravaganza started more than a month ago. While in some respects the buzz around Google Wave has started to subside, the term is still constantly one of the top trending topics on Twitter, and new gadgets, extensions, and applications are now starting to appear on a daily basis.

Each day more and more people are opening up their email inbox to find an invite to Google Wave. With that shiny new invite comes the inevitable quest for ideas about to how to put the medium to good use.

Should you happen to be one of those people, we’ve got a number of different resources that you can use to get up to speed with Google Wave. This time around, however, we wanted to look at how people are actually using it now. From process modelling and customer service, to project collaboration, annotation, and gaming, the examples listed here highlight the power of the newborn medium, and in part, showcase what we can expect as the platform matures.

1. SAP Gravity: Modeling within Google Wave

Understanding the power of real-time collaboration and its relevance to clients, SAP Research in Australia has developed a business process modeling tool called Gravity that works within Google Wave.

The sophisticated tool, which can be embedded within a Wave as a gadget, allows for team members to remotely build complex models in unison, or after catching up via playback, without having to leave Google Wave.

Gravity and Google Wave work together harmoniously to create a modeling environment that appears to be just as robust as, if not more flexible than, expensive desktop software built for the same purpose.

We think SAP is certainly on to something here, and we encourage you to watch the video demonstration of Gravity in Google Wave in action.

2. Salesforce: Google Wave for Customer Service

Salesforce, like SAP, has figured out that they can use the Google Wave platform to support client needs and tackle real-life problems. As such, Salesforce has created a Google Wave extension that clients can use to help automate, and even personalize, the customer service experience.

Watch the demonstration video to see how the Salesforce extension gives customers the ability to use Google Wave to interact with an automated support robot. Of course, customers can request assistance from a human within the Wave as well.

What makes this example stand out is the fact that not only is the Google Wave dialogue being stored as a case record within Salesforce, but, because the robot is connected to the Salesforce Service Cloud, the robot can access previously stored customer data for tailored service. Ultimately, Salesforce has found a way to potentially save clients money on customer service efforts, all the while maintaining active records, with the assistance of Google Wave.

3. Mingle: Integrated Project Collaboration

Mingle is a project management and team collaboration tool developed by ThoughtWorks Studios, who realized that they could add Mingle’s project management metadata to conversations in Google Wave.

The integration is still a work in progress, but a demonstration of the concept was highlighted at Enterprise 2.0, and the basic idea is to give Google Wave users/Mingle clients the ability to bring their Mingle task data, which takes the form of cards, into Google Wave. Existing Mingle cards can be embedded into Wave conversation threads, and new Mingle cards/tasks can be created within Google Wave.

This particular use case highlights how Google Wave can work with existing project management systems for more streamlined and cohesive communication, creating parity regardless of where the user is accessing project data.

4. Ecomm Conference: Annotating a Live Event

Just last week our CEO, Pete Cashmore, wrote about how the savvy people behind the Ecomm conference doled out Wave accounts to attendees so that they could collaborate, in real-time, to annotate presentation content. The result was arguably a much better way to consume conference content than attempting to follow hashtag tweets on Twitter.

You can read the full account, which was documented by Charlie Osmond, on the FreshNetworks blog, but here’s an excerpt that we think drives home the utility of the use case.

“Here’s what happened: an audience member would create a Google Wave and others in the audience would edit the wave during the presentation. The result would be a crowd-sourced write-up of the presentation: a transcript of key points and a record of audience comments.”

We happen to think this particular use case is genius, especially for content-rich seminars and events where attendees are typically taking their own individual notes. With the shared Google Wave experience they can combine forces to create a more meaningful and accurate recounting of information shared in conference sessions.

5. Gamers: Google Wave RPGs

A very detailed Ars Technica post highlights that there’s a growing collection of Google Wave users who are using the medium to play wave-borne RPGs (role playing games). As mentioned in the post, there’s a even a Wave dedicated to serving as an index for all the Wave RPGs currently in existence, and the last time we counted it included upwards of 300 contributing members, and a combination of 30 different ideas or full-fledged games.

According to Jon Stokes, the author of the post, Google Wave is adequate for some RPGs, but it could certainly be improved to allow for a more enjoyable experience. In the excerpt below, Stokes describes the current RPG experience within Google Wave:

“The few games I’m following typically have at least three waves: one for recruiting and general discussion, another for out-of-character interactions (”table talk”), and the main wave where the actual in-character gaming takes place. Individual players are also encouraged to start waves between themselves for any conversations that the GM shouldn’t be privy to. Character sheets can be posted in a private wave between a player and the GM, and character biographies can go anywhere where the other players can get access to them.

The waves are persistent, accessible to anyone who’s added to them, and include the ability to track changes, so they ultimately work quite well as a medium for the non-tactical parts of an RPG. A newcomer can jump right in and get up-to-speed on past interactions, and a GM or industrious player can constantly maintain the official record of play by going back and fixing errors, formatting text, adding and deleting material, and reorganizing posts. Character generation seems to work quite well in Wave, since players can develop the shared character sheet at their own pace with periodic feedback from the GM.”

Image from watch4u on Flickr

Tags: Google Wave, mingle, rpg, Salesforce, SAP

UPDATE (noon PT): Facebook has now rectified this issue.

-
Mashable reader Ben Kerin has noticed an odd change on Facebook that began last night: those importing their Twitter feeds into the service no longer see their links as clickable.

In short: if you’re posting web links (Bit.ly, TinyURL) to your Twitter feed and using the Twitter Facebook app to share those updates on Facebook too, none of those links are hyperlinked. Your friends will need to copy and paste the links into a browser to make them work.

If this is a design decision on Facebook’s part, it’s an extremely odd one: we’d like to think it’s an inconvenient bug, and we have a mail in to Facebook to check. Suffice to say, the issue is site-wide: it’s not just you.

Are you having issues with links in Facebook status updates? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: facebook, twitter

Google’s been on a homepage logo changing spree: they’ve celebrated H.G. Wells, the bar code, Confucious, Gandhi, and Sesame Street over the last few months alone.

If you check Google.com now though, you’ll see that the search giant is celebrating something different: the discovery of water on the moon! NASA made the stunning announcement earlier today after its moon bombing mission successfully revealed water under the lunar surface. And now the Google logo depicts the bombing revealing water.

When you think about it, Google had a quick turnaround time for this logo. As fellow space enthusiasts, our hats go off to NASA and the men and women behind the successful mission. Hopefully this is only the beginning of something even bigger than ourselves.

Tags: Google, google logo, moon, space, water

Update: Twitter seems to have fixed the issue. If your pages are still having the issue, make sure to refresh and/or clear your cache. You may still see broken pages for a while.

-

If you’re taking a look at Twitter.com right now, you’re going to see some very messed up web pages. Images gone, design layouts borked, text overlapping, and missing fonts are just the start. Now thousands of Twitter users are complaining or completely confused.

From our perspective, it looks as if the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) of Twitter.com is broken in some way (or the servers aren’t loading them). We’ll figure it out and update you when Twitter is fixed and why this massive error occurred in the first place.

In the meantime, here’s a screenshot of you’ll find on Twitter profile pages if you haven’t visited already:

Tags: twitter

Since its inception in 1990, Microsoft Office has quickly been the dominant force in office applications and document building. Need to build a presentation? There’s PowerPoint. Looking to create complex spreadsheets? Excel is still the gold standard. And with the power of Windows to help push the desktop software, its presence only grew.

Over the last few years though, the web has begun to change this dynamic. Collaboration has become more important in business. At the same time, web applications have become more and more able to match the power and features of their desktop counterparts. In the document space, Google Docs has carried the banner for web-based document building.

Now Google claims that Docs will be a viable alternative to Office by next year. At the same time, Office 2010 boasts web-based versions of its popular software. With the two giants locked in battle, we wanted to get your take on things. We asked you to vote on which doc-building tool you prefer…

…and while it may not come as a surprise, Microsoft Office came out on top. But surprisingly the match was a close fight all the way to the end. Microsoft Office only secured a slim majority of the vote, 51% or 1365 votes. Google Docs registered 37% of the tally with its 994 votes. Finally, 12% of you (315 votes) said it was a tie and both were good tools.

We expected Office to win this one, but from the votes and the reader comments, it seems that the winds of change have begun to blow. Whether Office 2010’s web integration will be enough to fend off Google’s attempts to challenge Microsoft, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Be sure to tune in next week for the next edition of our Web Faceoff series! Below are the full results of the last eight weeks:

Web Faceoff: Overall Results

Week 2:
- Tumblr vs. Posterous
- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 votes)

Week 3:
- Pandora vs. Last.fm
- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)

Week 4:
- Twitter vs. Facebook
- WINNER: Facebook, 2484 votes (Twitter: 2061 votes, Tie: 588 votes)

Week 5:
- WordPress vs. Typepad
- WINNER: WordPress, 2714 votes (Typepad: 267 votes, Tie: 357 votes)

Week 6:
- Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard
- WINNER: Windows 7, 3632 votes (Snow Leopard: 3278 votes, Tie: 121 votes)

Week 7:
- TweetDeck vs. Seesmic Desktop
- WINNER: TweetDeck, 3294 votes (Seesmic Desktop: 1055 votes, Tie: 260 votes)

Week 8: Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs
- WINNER: Microsoft Office, 1365 votes (Google Docs: 994 votes, Tie: 315 votes)

Tags: Google, google docs, microsoft, microsoft office, poll, web faceoff

Want to bail out of your Verizon service for a shiny new iPhone, or head to another carrier before your contract ends? There’s an early termination fee for that. And starting next week, that fee is going to double if you’ve bought a smartphone or other mobile the carrier considers an “advanced device” high-end enough to warrant a steep $350 penalty for ditching.

Currently the ETF starts at $175 and is pro-rated by $5 each month you’re in your contract. If you pick up a BlackBerry or Android phone (like the new Droid) after November 15, though, you’ll be in for a $350 starting fee that drops by $10 a month. That means even if you cancel your contract in the very last month of service you’d owe Verizon a $110 chunk of change.

To explain how we could possibly have even gotten here requires a bit of backstory. When you buy a phone on a carrier in the U.S. (and in many other countries around the world), you typically get a discounted price on the phone in exchange for signing a 1- or 2-year service contract with that carrier. The cell companies are willing to subsidize the actual street cost of a phone because of the guarantee that they’ll make it back as well as a tidy profit off of your cell service over the life of the contract.

Thus the argument goes that because smartphones are even more expensive in actual cost value than that basic, no-frills flip phone you can get cheap or even free, the carrier needs more “insurance” should you decide to duck out early. However, consumers and even some legislators are none too happy with the news, including a Minnesota Senator who seeks to block the deal. Others like David Pogue in his NYTimes editorial tie Verizon’s announcement to other shady revenue tactics and the carrier’s overall reputation of aggressive pricing and steep additional fees.

What do you think: is Verizon over-reaching its bounds? Do we already pay enough in extra data costs for these “advanced devices” to offset the subsidy, or is the company justified in trying to cover its costs?

Tags: ETF, Mobile 2.0, smartphones, verizon

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The expression of community has changed considerably since the emergence of social media technologies, but its basic foundation — the notion of individuals exchanging information, ideas, and opinions — remains firmly intact. Today, one of the most widely-used tools in developing these types of exchanges online is WordPress, the popular blogging and publishing platform. Part of its appeal is the ease with which users can build advanced functionality into their sites with plugins. If you’re interested in building a community around your site, there are plenty of third-party add-ons that can help create one.

These 10 WordPress plugins add features that will help you to engage your user base.

Highlight Your Best Content

1. Featured Content Gallery – If you’re not an expert in programming or design, Featured Content Gallery makes it easy to highlight images, posts, or pages anywhere on your site. It comes with a sleek and contemporary design that is fully customizable through the WordPress dashboard, so that you can integrate your highlighted content seamlessly with the rest of your site.

2. Popularity Contest – Your users will want to know what’s popular and interesting to their peers in the community and the Popularity Contest Plugin can help. It keeps track of the most popular posts and pages on your site and acts as a leaderboard that directs users to the most active content in your community. You can customize the point values assigned to user actions on the site, such as comments or views, and display the results easily in a widgetized-sidebar.

Facilitate User Engagement

3. Viper’s Video Quicktags – Including video in your community is easy using Viper’s Video Quicktags. Just enter the URL of the video in the prompt box and see a preview of the video right on your screen. Then specify the dimensions and other customizations you’d like to add and see your final product before saving it into your post. Supported video sites include YouTube, Google Video, Vimeo and others.

4. WPtouch – Part of keeping the community vibrant means letting your users take it with them. You can go mobile with your community using WPtouch and avoid building a mobile website or the costs of developing an iPhone application. You can control the mobile user interface by allowing the browser to automatically route users to the interface of your choosing — your site or the WPtouch interface, which looks similar to an iPhone app. You can also show or hide post excerpts and customize the icons and general appearance of your mobile site.

5. Disqus Comment System – Nothing stops a potential commenter in their tracks faster than having to set up a user ID and password in order to leave a message on your site. At the same time, most of us would like some sort of authentication process we can use to identify and correspond with other users as we develop our communities. The Disqus Comment System allows users to engage with your site using their Twitter, Disqus, Facebook, OpenID or selected other accounts. This prevents users from having to set up new accounts while allowing for authentication. Bonus: the Reactions feature allows you to include the social component of user feedback into your comments.

6. Customize Your Community – Customize Your Community (CYC) provides some useful options for those building communities in WordPress. It allows you to re-brand the WordPress pages for registration, logging in/out, and lost passwords, as well as the user profile pages. In addition to giving your community a standardized look and feel, CYC helps with a long-standing navigational issue in WordPress: it automatically directs “subscribers” to their profiles and bypasses the WP backend entirely.

Measure on the Fly

7. Clicky – While Google Analytics provides you with a long-term perspective on your site metrics, Clicky gives you instantaneous feedback. The dashboard includes traditional site metrics, but also offers cool features, like “Spy”, which pinpoints the location of current visitors on a map. It’s an easy way to get a snapshot of your site’s current activity and, in conjunction with Google Analytics, gives you a comprehensive overview of your site’s activity.

Improve User Navigation

8. Breadcrumb NavXT – Your users aren’t exactly Hansel and Gretel, but they still may occasionally need help navigating your site, particularly if it’s content-heavy. Breadcrumbs are usually located just below a site’s primary navigation system and look something like this:

Home » Dance Music » Saint Etienne » Method of Modern Love

Breadcrumb NavXT, the successor to Breadcrumb Navigation XT, improves your site’s navigation by building this kind of virtual breadcrumb trail for your users to follow. This way, users will know where they’re located on your site. This plugin may require customization, depending on your theme; check out the Advanced Options section of the plugin’s homepage for additional instructions.

Monetize It!

9. Advertising Manager – If you were previously using the Adsense Manager plugin, you’ve probably noticed that it hasn’t been updated in a while. That’s because it has been succeeded by Advertising Manager, which is recommended unless you are using WordPress version 2.5 or earlier. The renamed version supports a broader group of ad networks in addition to Google AdSense, such as Adify, AdBrite, and several others. It also imports your AdSense Manager settings, for users of the previous plugin.

10. WP125 – Do you prefer a more hands-on management style for your advertising? WP125 allows you to do everything from arranging the ad display so that it fits your site design to setting timelines for ads (they can be removed automatically or manually at expiration). It also provides a placeholder for empty ad space, which you can switch to your own customized version.

Do you have another plugin that’s been helpful to you in building your community? Share your favorites in the comments below.

More WordPress resources from Mashable:

WordPress Themes: “Top 12 Stunning WordPress Themes“, “30+ WordPress 3 Column Themes,” “20 WordPress 4-Column Themes,” “30+ WordPress 1-Column Themes,” “10 Unusual & Original WordPress Themes”

Plugins: “50+ WordPress Plugins for Multimedia,” “30+ WordPress Plugins for Statistics,” “30+ WordPress Plugins for Comments,” “30+ WordPress Plugins to Get More Blog Readers,” “Top 10 WordPress Plugins to Promote Your Social Media Profiles”

Miscellaneous: “WordPress God: 300+ Tools for Running Your WordPress Blog,” “The 7 Weirdest and Wackiest Uses for WordPress“

Tags: community, Lists, plugins, Wordpress

Friday is a happy time for many, which makes it the perfect time for our weekly Lunchtime Poll! If you’ve participated before, you know we throw out a poll question, start off with some responses from the staff here at Mashable, and let you fine folks have at it in the comments.

Last week we wanted to know about your favorite Twitter photo-sharing services, and the results are in if you want to know how they stack up for Mashable readers. This week we’re curious about your RSS habits. Some pundits have claimed that RSS is dead, but we think the news of its death may be greatly exaggerated. Do you use a news reader? If RSS is dead to you too, be sure to let us know that in the comments as well.

What’s your favorite news reader?

Mashable Faves

Adam Ostrow: Google Reader … still makes it easy to read my favorite news sources all in one place

Pete Cashmore: Google Reader. Lazyfeed is getting some buzz but I haven’t gotten into the habit of using it.

Sharon Feder: Google Reader — it’s a simple, reliable, and an important tool I use daily.

Adam Hirsch: I used to be FeedDemon, but I’m all Google Reader for portability and speed. I set it as a separate Chrome app.

Josh Catone: I’m perhaps the only person on the planet who can’t stand Google Reader. I use Vienna on Mac, and FeedDemon on Windows.

Ben Parr: Google Reader, and it’s not even close.

Jennifer Van Grove: Google Reader, it’s my lifeline to the outside world.

Christina Warren: Fever. You have to host it yourself but it’s pure gold if you have lots of feeds.

Barb Dybwad: Primarily NetNewsWire on the Mac, but I’ve been using Google Reader again a lot more for serendipity finds since they added Magic sort (it’s magic!).

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography

Tags: FeedDemon, fever, google reader, lunchtime poll, netnewswire, news reader, rss, vienna

If you already use Internet Explorer but haven’t upgraded to the latest version yet, there are plenty of reasons to do so. But perhaps none is as adorable as the following endorsement from none other than the Smoky Mountain Songbird herself, Dolly Parton.

In the video she promotes a new feature on her website that makes use of a feature only supported in IE8, web slices. And it’s unexpectedly endearing. Check out the video below.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: Browsers, dolly parton, IE8, internet explorer, microsoft, video

For better or worse, iTunes and the iTunes Store have become a ubiquitous part of the digital media experience. In fact, it’s such a common part of the experience that Apple just expects that everyone has it installed.

Consequently, if you click on an iTunes link in a web browser, iTunes either opens up on your computer or you’re taken to a page that tells you you need to install iTunes.

However, as Macworld figured out, that’s starting to change. Apple has just quietly rolled out some web-based search and viewing capabilities for the Music and TV portion of the iTunes Store called iTunes Preview.

Right now you can see iTunes Preview by going to the iTunes Charts page or by following a link from the music store created within iTunes like this one. You can now view an albums page, see the songs included on the album, the length, individual track price, and read review from iTunes reviewers. You can also browse through the discography of that artist and look up similar artists and genres.

You cannot, however, preview song tracks. For that, you still need to open up iTunes (or click on a “view in iTunes” button). You can also browse through movies and TV shows, but not to the extent that you can music.

iTunes Preview makes us wonder if some sort of web-based version of iTunes is on the horizon. As it stands, iTunes 9 is essentially just rendering WebKit pages anyway, so the ability to offer up the results on the web is already available.

If Apple were to embrace a more web-oriented iTunes, it could potentially open up the store content (the stuff that isn’t DRM anyway) to other devices. Apple has always used iTunes as a way to convert customers to using an iPod or iPhone, but that might not always be the case.

What do you think of iTunes Preview? Do you think this is a sign of things to come? Let us know!

Tags: apple, itunes, itunes preview

Although the LCROSS mission last month (aka the “moon bombing”) that was broadcast live on TV and the Internet may have not provided any spectacular footage, it did apparently deliver some remarkable findings.

According to NASA, “the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.” In other words, we have a pretty huge scientific discovery on our hands: water on the moon!

In addition to finding water, NASA has released the above image, showing the “ejecta plume” from 20 seconds after impact. Although not the Michael Bay movie-like explosion that observers might’ve been hoping for, we now at least have a convincing visual from the mission.

The project is far from complete though, and NASA hints more amazing discoveries might be made. According to Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist, “The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich. Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances.”

Nicely done, NASA. We forgive you for not providing us with a spectacular embeddable video and the awkward live news broadcasts

Tags: moon, NASA

Steve Cunningham is the CEO of Polar Unlimited, a digital marketing agency. To win a signed and personalized copy of each of the books mentioned here, visit Read It For Me.

So you want to get up to speed fast on the latest social media thinking. Maybe give your colleague, boss or friend a dose of new social strategies. But where to start? Amazon nicely suggests 44,444 titles that they would be delighted to overnight direct to your bookshelf. Ummm, no thanks. Fortunately, you’ve got your own social media fairy right here. (Hi!) We’ve already done the hard part for you, and have narrowed down those 44,444 titles to 5 killer must-reads that can get you on the road to social media stardom. Abracadabra!

5 Social Media Lessons

This story is magically formatted for 2 types of people: readers and watchers. Look up for the video, or scroll down for the text. Magic. You’ll learn why trust is the new currency, from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, how the social media revolution has “turned the bullhorn around” from Tara Hunt, the two pillars of social media success from Mitch Joel, why you need to work your face off from Gary Vaynerchuk, and lastly, the nitty gritty of some of the most effective tools out there to grow your business and personal brand with Tamar Weinberg. These 5 ideas are (almost!) all you need to create and execute a powerful social media game-plan. Let’s go…

Lesson #1 – You Need to Build Trust

This lesson comes from Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

The first step in building trust is to turn yourself into Donnie Brasco. That’s right, you have to become a member of the community. The movie Donnie Brasco is the real life story of Joe Pistone, the FBI agent who infiltrated the Mafia and brought them to their knees. Joey spent 6 months sitting on a barstool in New York, drinking, eating peanuts, and watching the scene around him. He knew that the only way to integrate himself into the mafia community was to watch and learn how it operated first.

You should feel free to take the same approach, sans peanuts. Go to the websites of the people you want to connect with, and watch how they interact with each other. When you feel comfortable knowing how to interact, start leaving thoughtful comments on other people’s blogs. That lets the blogger know you’re listening and it helps them build up credibility. Your credibility will follow.

Lesson #2 – Turn the Bullhorn Around

This lesson comes from The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt.

What you’ll learn, while sitting on your virtual barstool, is the fascinating part: you’ll learn quite literally how to transform your products and services. And that’s a big deal. Hunt gives us some great tips on how to properly put all this new information to work to your advantage: (1) use it to design a product/service for the broadest possible community, (2) make sure you respond to all feedback, even if it’s with “no thanks,” and (3) give credit to the people whose ideas you implement.

Lesson #3 – Learn the Pillars of Social Media Success

This lesson comes from Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel.

You’ve listened to and integrated feedback, and now you are ready to communicate. The 2 pillars which should guide your communication are permission and content. Permission is grade-school easy: only share relevant and timely information with the people who have agreed to receive it. Content comes next. As Joel says, your ability to create compelling text, audio, video, and images is what’s going to build your story and get people excited about staying connected. He says to ask yourself these hard questions to decide what content to create: (1) What expertise and knowledge do I have, and how can I best share this with my customers? (2) Is there something I can create that will empower my consumers to connect to one another better? (3) Which medium am I most compelling with – text, audio, images, or video?

Lesson #4 – Work Your Face Off

This lesson comes from Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck.

Vaynerchuck’s not drugs, it’s drive. He wants you to work your 9-5 day job, go home and hug your spouse, kiss your baby, and then get working again from 9-2 AM on the thing you love. As he so eloquently puts it, “you’ll be bleeding out of your eyeballs at your computer.”

When you want to change the world, there’s no place or time for couch surfing Grey’s Anatomy, Wii, Scrabble, book clubs (there’s always time for 10 minute reviews on Mashable, of course), or online poker. So, be sure to pick something you are very passionate about, because there’s NO way you will work this hard at something you don’t enjoy.

Lesson #5 – Get Smart About the Tools

This lesson comes from The New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg.

Editor’s Note: Tamar Weinberg is Mashable’s Director of Community.

Want the nitty gritty details of social media success? Weinberg (the Queen of Smart) has literally hundreds of great tips in this book. Some of the gems include: submitting your blog to various directories (a simple but often overlooked step), learning how to run contests on Twitter to drive traffic, how to become a power account user on the social news sites, and how to use Yahoo! Answers to create thought leadership for your brand.

So that’s the scoop. Five killer social media must-reads. This is a tech democracy we’re living in here – where the net and content overcomes traditional media gatekeeping. These 5 books are your roadmap to becoming a social media rockstar in 2010 – rock on!

More business resources from Mashable:

- 5 Advanced Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
- 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
- 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy
- 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small Business
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, f4f

Tags: book review, crush it, List, Lists, six pixel of separation, social media, the new community rules, the whuffie factor, trust agents, Whuffie

It might have taken two years, but Google’s Android operating system is suddenly very much at the center of the mobile universe, with a new device being revealed seemingly every day. Now, Dell is getting on board by announcing the Mini 3, a smartphone that will be marketed through China Mobile and Claro (a Brazilian carrier).

Dell isn’t yet revealing many specs about the device itself, which is its first smartphone. Those will be “announced on a partner-by-partner basis when devices are available in stores,” which is expected by year end on both carriers.

China Mobile is a big get for both Google and Dell though – it’s the world’s largest carrier with more than 500 million customers. Other devices from various manufacturers that run on Android are expected to launch on the carrier soon as well.

As for the iPhone, it recently launched in China on Unicom, though so far its sales have been lackluster to say the least. It would seem that the Chinese smartphone market is fair game, and for the moment, it looks like Google has an opportunity to make some serious inroads.

Tags: china mobile, dell, Google, Google Android, Mobile 2.0

This week’s “faceoff” on Mashable is between Microsoft Office and Google Docs. While we’ll share with you the final results soon, so far, many of you seem to think that Docs is a viable alternative to Microsoft’s long dominant Office suite.

And, Google thinks so too, at least within the next year or so. The company’s President of enterprise products tells ZDNet Asia that Docs will push 30-50 updates in that time, at which point he believes the web-based office suite would be capable of serving the “vast majority’s needs.”

Of course, Microsoft isn’t going to sit quietly while that’s happening. Office 2010 looks to bring Microsoft’s web and collaboration capabilities up to par with the likes of Google Docs, and offer them for free to anyone with a Windows Live account.

It’s going to be an interesting battle to watch play out, though convincing the masses to “go Google” is a lot different than simply having the functionality in place so that it’s a realistic option. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the final results of our faceoff and go vote if you’d like your opinion to count.

Tags: Google, google docs, microsoft, microsoft office

A couple of days ago, in an interview with Sky News Australia, Rupert Murdoch explicitly said he plans to make News Corp’s content invisible to search engines.

Now, News Corp’s chief digital officer Jonathan Miller, has revealed a timeframe in which this is supposed to happen. Speaking at the Monaco Media Forum, Miller said it will happen within “months and quarters – not weeks.”

He then repeats Murdoch’s mantra, claiming Google’s search traffic is next to useless. “The traffic which comes in from Google brings a consumer who more often than not read one article and then leaves the site. That is the least valuable of traffic to us… the economic impact is not as great as you might think. You can survive without it,” he said.

It may seem like quite a crazy idea, but News Corp plans to bring other media companies along for the ride. “We will lead. There is a pent up need for this. There has to be a resolution for the free versus pay debate otherwise we cannot afford to pay for things like news bureaus in Kabul,” Miller said.

In a way, it’s a big experiment, and since Murdoch (thinks he) can afford it, the rest of the world can simply stay on the sidelines and watch what happens. My guess is that News Corp’s properties will simply get less traffic, and in turn sell fewer ads and earn less money, creating losses that money from subscriptions won’t cover.

I just cannot imagine a world in which all of the big creators of news create a paywall around their content and then everyone decides that this content is so great they should pay for it instead of finding it elsewhere for free. The landscape of the news industry and the way news is disseminated has changed so much that sticking to the old business model and completely shutting off new possibilities won’t work. I might be wrong, though; I guess we’ll know soon enough.

Tags: Google, News Corp, rupert murdoch

Since we launched Mashable’s 3rd Annual Open Web Awards this past October, you’ve cast over 349,000 votes for your favorite nominees. Over the past few weeks we’ve continued to track the leaders in each category, and now, with just two days left in the nominations period we thought it would be appropriate to take a look at 500 of the current leaders in the competition’s 50 categories.

Below are 500 of the top nominated individuals, tools, and organizations (in no particular order) — each selected by you, our readers. Add your voice to this list by nominating your favorites at mashable.com/owa. Nominations will remain open until 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, November 15th.

Best Brand Use of Facebook

- The Children’s Place
- Newegg.com
- Comcast4College
- Dogs Trust
- Zynga
- Playfish
- Pet Society
- Bigzig Connect
- Facebuko
- Mousehunt

Best Brand Use of YouTube

- TotallyTrucked
- Coldwell Banker
- Shane Dawson
- Internet Killed Television
- Smosh
- YTwatchdog
- The Hardy Show
- SHAYTARDS
- BooneOakley
- Open University

Best Brand Use of Twitter

- @TrueBloodHBO
- Crayola Creativitycast
- @NHLBlackhawks
- @LiveLifeSolid
- @Philips_vs
- @140hours
- #socialmedia
- @Smartcares
- @Digsby
- @KiWeets

Best Corporate Blog

- Playstation Blog
- Grown Up Thinking by Mr Youth
- uTest
- OkTrends
- SoGoPro
- ArcelorMittal: The Inside Story
- Precision Time
- Picnik Blog
- Kikikannibal
- Milford Equity Living NYC

Best Non-Profit Use of Social Media

- Spirit Jump
- Alex’s Lemonade
- A Billion for A Billion
- Frougal Dougal
- Lupus Foundation of America
- PETA
- Voices of Survivors
- Sports Grants Foundation
- Space Tweep Society
- Thank A Soldier

Social Media Ad Campaign

- Grasshopper 5,000
- Comcast4College
- MadMenYourself
- People’s Choice Awards on MySpace
- Sarah Ezekiel
- Hallow-Dega
- Fiesta Movement
- Exploiting Chaos
- Flowersophy
- #BeatCancer

Social Media Agency

- Mr Youth
- Pixel Farm
- Jam
- TheKBuzz
- Rocket XL
- SocialMedia8
- Synhergy Entertainment
- 360i
- Room 214
- Rockfish Interactive

Social Media Gadget

- Digsby
- AddThis
- ShareThis
- AddToAny
- Property-Bee
- Wetoku
- Tigerbow
- SocialGo
- Yoono
- WiseStamp

Best News Source to Follow

- @BreakingNews
- @Statesman
- Tweetepedia
- @CNN
- @ivetesangalo
- @TheFeed
- @Causecast
- @TheOnion
- @FingertipNews
- TweetPortal

Funniest Tweet

- @Shitmydadsays
- @Serafinowicz
- @Ivetesangalo
- @JonathanRKnight
- @ricky_martin
- @BlakeShelton
- @Dougiemcfly
- @tommcfly
- @kpereira
- @phillisdorris

Tweet of the Year

- “This is history.” @BarackObama

- “From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!” @Astro_Mike

- “#Firefox reached 1000 million downloads on 2009-07-31 15:00 UTC.” @FirefoxTweets

- “http://twitpic.com/135xa – There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.” @Jkrums/ Twitpic

- “I #BlameDrewsCancer for asking @sarahcooley to marry me on Twitter…and for the impending parental smackdown for doing so.” @Drew

- MonaTweeta II [Flickr]

- “Whoever started the RIP Kanye West hoax…Imma let you finish, but Balloon Boy had the best hoax of all time.” Unattributed

- “29/08: nothing is completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” @Paulocoelho

- “The dog don’t like you planting stuff there. It’s his backyard. If you’re the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that.” @Shitmydadsays

- “I’m not a blogger–I just tweet a lot.” @Jshirk

Most Interesting Twitter User to Follow

- @Ivetesangalo
- @KitchenBitch
- @PauloCoelho
- @DerrenBrown
- @MaureenJohnson
- @Tornadoliese
- @Donniewahlberg
- @Shitmydadsays
- @StephenFry
- @Alyssa_Milano

Twitter User of the Year

- @SookieBonTemps
- @Mpaynknoper
- @Ivetesangalo
- @Realwbonner
- @Alyssa_Milano
- @Collective_Soul
- @Donniewahlberg
- @StephenFry
- @Tommcfly
- @Tornadoliese

Best Twitter App

- Favotter
- TweetDeck
- Power Twitter
- Tweetie
- Digsby
- Favstar.fm
- Seesmic
- Brizzly
- Echofon
- Twitter Karma

Best Facebook App

- Mousehunt
- Ghost Trappers
- FarmVille
- PackRat
- Pet Society
- Battle Stations
- Eyesores
- Mafia Wars
- Restaurant City
- Fish Wrangler

Best Facebook Game

- Pet Society
- Ghost Trappers
- Mousehunt
- PackRat
- Battle Stations
- Restaurant City
- Mafia Wars
- Fish Wrangler
- Cafe World
- Farmville

Best Facebook Fan Page

- Twilight
- True Blood
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
- Paulo Coelho
- Sugarland
- The Office
- Girls Guide To
- Newegg
- Pooflinger’s Mousehunt Tools
- Everything is Rent

Most Creative Use of Facebook Connect

- Girls Guide To
- Startlike
- OCBC Cycle Singapore
- JibJab
- OrgSync
- Digsby
- Test Tube Telly
- Gaia Online
- Pet Society
- The Gamers Force

Best YouTube Channel or Personality

- MattG124
- Vlogbrothers
- LoraandLayton
- Shane Dawson
- Shaytards
- Charles Trippy
- Sxephil
- Jeff Takeover
- Community Channel
- xxxjoelpolexxx

Funniest YouTube Channel

- Smosh
- LoadingReadyRun
- ShaneDawsonTV
- SHAYTARDS
- Nigahiga
- Friday Night Cranks
- Community Channel
- CardGamesFTW
- Internet Killed Television
- YTwatchdog

YouTube Video of the Year

- Iran, Tehran: wounded girl dying in front of camera, Her name was Neda (Warning: very graphic)
- The Secret of the Sauce
- A Very Potter Musical
- The Guild – Do You Want to Date My Avatar?
- Carl Sagan – ‘A Glorious Dawn’ ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed)
- The Bag Heads: Quest for the Milk
- Knees Up Mother Brown
- CTFxC: Surprise Marriage Proposal In Spain! (10.4.09 – Day 157)
- Behind the Scenes: Mid-Autumn Romance @ Chelsea Mansion
- Bounce

Best Online Video Web Series

- Internet Killed Television
- Nostalgia Critic
- The Guild
- YTwatchdog
- The Philip DeFranco Show
- SHAYTARDS
- Totally Rad Show
- Angry Video Game Nerd
- The Joker Blogs
- Anyone But Me

Best Flickr Photographer

- Shadi Eideh
- Heychrissmith
- Chanelle Richardson
- Nickpickles
- Mmitchelldaviss
- Stefjosimovska
- Khosey1
- Stuckincustoms
- AHockley
- JaredEarle

Flickr Photo of the Year

- Mesmerized
- Highspeed Water
- The Canine of Rhodes
- One Sad Puppy
- Limitado
- President Barack Obama speaks with a foreign leader in the Oval Office on his first day in office 1/21/09
- Men Repairing Fishing Boat, Zanzibar
- Trent Reznor
- Kevin Pollak challenging Darth Vader to Space Invaders
- Masificación (01) por Rodrigo de Oliveira

TwitPic of the Year

- Plane in the Hudson
- Beautiful little girl in Railton Township, SA
- Social Tattoo
- #cozytweetup
- Pepe. The mouth that swallowed the south
- Go-karting
- RnR Hall of Fame
- Puppets
- at teh cdd reelase parrty *hic*
- untitled by @christiankane01

Best Actor/Actress to Follow

- Tom Felton
- Alyssa Milano
- Peter Facinelli
- Stephen Fry
- Hilarie Burton
- Felicia Day
- Eliza Dushku
- Selena Gomez
- Crystal Chappell
- Nathan Fillion

Best Blogger to Follow

- Lora and Layton
- Derek Michael Sheldon
- MattG124
- Mercedes Sanchez
- Please Find This
- Faris Yakob
- Jonathan Valdez
- Perez Hilton
- Charles Trippy
- Mitzi Szereto

Best Celebrity to Follow

- Britney Spears
- Alyssa Milano
- Donnie Wahlberg
- Stephen Fry
- Peter Facinelli
- Tom Felton
- Tom Fletcher
- Olivia Munn
- Crystal Chappell
- Hilarie Burton

Best Musical Artist to Follow

- Miyavi
- Britney Spears
- Collective Soul
- David Cook
- Pepe Aguilar
- Donnie Wahlberg
- Sugarland
- BT
- Pepe Aguilar
- Ivete Sangalo

Best Social Media Maven to Follow

- Mari Smith
- Annaliese Nielsen
- Almitra
- Erin Blaskie
- Mia von Doom
- Brian Solis
- Ron Callari
- BuzzEdition
- Karen Robinovitz
- GI Wayne

Funniest Person to Follow

- Noah Antwiler/ @TheSpoonyOne
- Peter Serafinowicz/ @serafinowicz
- Justin/ @shitmydadsays
- Shane Dawson
- Maureen Johnson
- Misha Collins
- Tim Siedell/ @badbanana
- shaycarl
- Lora and Layton
- Jonathan Knight

Most Educational to Follow

- Marina Orlova/ @hotforwords
- Elizabeth Kricfalusi/ Tech for Luddites
- Alyssa Milano
- Big Cat Rescue
- Stephen Fry
- Kelly Drennan/ @ecofashionista
- Duncan Maile/ @mobilephone2003
- Paulo Coelho
- @Ringorang
- Kelly Drennan/ @ecofashionista

Most Inspiring to Follow

- Lora and Layton
- Paulo Coelho
- Hydrocephalus Association
- Drew Olanoff
- Alyssa Milano
- Donnie Wahlberg
- Billy Ray Cyrus
- Rev Run
- Hilarie Burton
- BelievaBelles

Best Location Based Mobile App:

- Gowalla
- Foursquare
- Zillow
- MomMaps
- RunKeeper
- Google Maps
- iKidNY
- GPS Assassins
- Aloqa
- layar

Best Mobile Based Twitter App

- Snaptu
- Gravity
- Tweetie
- UberTwitter
- TweetDeck
- echofon
- Twidroid
- Tweed
- m.twitstat.com
- MovaTwitter.jp

Best Mobile App

- ebuddy
- Opera Mini
- YinzCam
- Nimbuzz
- Zillow
- Mobypicture
- Evernote
- Snaptu
- Tweetie
- Gowalla

Best Mobile Game

- Ramp Champ
- Gowalla
- Peggle
- Tap Tap Revenge 3
- Doodle Jump [iTunes Link]
- Astraware Solitaire
- Pocket God [iTunes Link]
- Glyder by Glu Mobile
- Word Ace
- Geodefense

Best Social Network iPhone App

- Facebook
- WhosHere
- Tweetie
- TweetDeck
- Fring
- Vodafone Update
- echofon
- Junaio
- Twitterrific
- Whrrl

Best Mobile Music Site or App

- Pandora
- Spotify
- Last.fm
- iheartradio
- Bandsintown
- Midomi
- Slacker
- Shazam
- Blip.fm
- Lala.com

Best Mobile Travel Site or App

- TripIt
- TripAdvisor
- Kayak
- Whereivebeen.com
- DealBase
- OnTheRoad
- Zagat to Go
- Boarding.fr
- NileGuide
- Viva Travel Guides

Best Breaking News Site

- BNO News
- CNN
- BBC
- Drudge Report
- allkpop
- Twitter
- TMZ
- Fox News
- Detik.com
- Sky News

Best Local News Site

- The College Reporter
- utahtweets
- Fwix
- Didim Today
- Chatham-Kent Daily Post
- Everything Long Beach
- Street Mavens
- MyFOXAustin
- JumpEround
- Northumberland View

Best Online Music Label

- DFTBA Records
- G-Unit Records/ Thisis50
- TheNext2Shine
- slicethepie
- OOiZiT
- WM Recordings
- blocSonic
- PublicSpaces Lab
- enoughrecords
- Bumpertunes

Best Political News Site

- Demotix
- Tweetminster
- Huffington Post
- BBC
- politics.co.uk
- Washington Post
- Political Wire
- The Young Turks
- Politico
- Stuartking.net/blog

Best Site for Publishers

- HubPages
- PitchEngine
- Global for me
- Squidoo
- DevHub
- You Scoop It
- BestThinking
- BuySellAds
- Newgrounds
- uCoz

Best Local Blog

- fusildechispas.com
- Let’s Adopt
- The Lichfield Blog
- BeChicMag
- Style Quotient
- LA Snark
- A View From An Ad Guy
- Sunday Morning Soliloquy
- Duke City Fix
- Three Day Rule

Best Online Magazine

- Bike EXIF
- ArchDaily
- The Escapist
- Generation C Magazine
- Obvious Magazine
- Resolution Magazine
- The Neave
- LadyLUX
- Dazed Digital
- Autostraddle

Best Online Newspaper

- The Guardian
- The New York Times
- MeeHive
- The Twitter Tim.es
- Huffington Post
- New Europe
- The Onion
- Herald de Paris
- ionline.pt
- Toledo Blade

Best Site for Journalists

- HARO
- IJNet
- News University
- Gameleon
- Overheard in the Newsroom
- Journalism.co.uk
- Global Radio News
- Trendsmap
- Columbia Journalism Review
- Demotix

Best TV Network Online

- blip.tv
- Hulu
- MomTV
- BBC
- G4tv
- ComputerTV
- Travel Channel
- NBC
- Syfy
- ReadersEntertainment.TV

Continue to nominate your favorites at Mashable.com/OWA

Thanks to our Partner: MOTOBLUR

MOTOBLUR from Motorola was built expressly for the way people communicate today. It’s the only service that automatically delivers and organizes your conversations, contacts and content from all your favorite sites and sources in easy-to-manage streams. Whether it’s Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, text messages, Gmail or work e-mail, MOTOBLUR keeps track of it all and serves it up on a customizable home screen and integrates it through the phone. Plus, with MOTOBLUR you have peace of mind, because all of your info is backed up and secure. Discover MOTOBLUR on Motorola CLIQ available at T-Mobile. It’s time to spend less time managing life and more time living it.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mevans

Tags: open web awards, owa, trending

Although his team lost last night’s game with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade can perhaps take some solace in knowing that he produced one of the day’s hottest YouTube clips.

In the first quarter of Heat versus Cavaliers game, Wade threw down a spectacular dunk over the Cavs’ Anderson Varejao that commentator Reggie Miller called a “Kodak moment.” The more apt title in this day and age is probably “YouTube moment,” as basketball fans search for and share the clip of the epic slam.

Here’s the video:

Tags: basketball, dwayne wade, NBA, video

When it comes to shedding the beta tag, Microsoft is far quicker than Google (some of whose products have been called perpetual betas). Bing UK just lost its beta tag, and gained several interesting features, most importantly Bing Maps (which will replace Multimap, where visitors were redirected until now).

The new UK Bing Maps sport an impressive array of features. You can check the entire list in detail here, but here are the highlights: redesigned navigation, Ordnance Survey Maps (great for outdoorspeople), Tube Maps, nearby stations and POIs, walking directions and user contributions.

As far as the search portion of Bing UK goes, it sports visual search, more instant answers (ask a direct question, such as “How is Liverpool doing in the Premiership?”, and get an instant answer), real-time Twitter search, and shopping search (courtesy of Ciao UK). And yes, those background images will now be UK-specific.

Tags: bing, maps, uk

When you’re a huge web company, and you choose a name for something as important as a new programming language, you should take great care to investigate whether the name is already taken.

Apparently, Google didn’t do that. Frank McCabe, a developer working at San Jose, Calif.-based Starview Technologies, created a programming language and named it Go years ago. In fact, he published a research paper about it in 2004, and devoted an entire book to it, named “Lets Go” in 2007.

In an e-mail to Information Week, McCabe said he doesn’t own a trademark on the language, but he’s not happy about Google choosing the name Go nevertheless. “It takes a lot of effort to produce a reasonably well-designed language. I am concerned that the ‘big guy’ will end up steam-rollering over me. I do not have resources to invest in legal action; but do not intend to let Google keep the name without them being explicit that they are steam-rollering over us,” he says.

If the folks at Google who named the language didn’t know about the other “Go”, they were careless. If they knew about it and decided to name their language “Go” anyway, it sounds like a big company not caring much about the little guy. After all, how many names are taken when it comes to programming languages? Perhaps a couple hundred? Surely Google could have chosen another name.

Google hasn’t given a definitive answer to this problem yet. So far, their spokesman merely said they “recently became aware of the Go! issue and are now looking into the matter further.” But ignoring the issue definitely won’t go well with Google’s oft quoted mantra – “Don’t be evil”.

Tags: Frank McCabe, Go, Google

Each Friday we choose a Lunchtime Poll topic to get a sense of how Mashable readers feel about the chosen topic of the week. Below are the results from last Friday’s poll, where we asked your favorite Twitter photo-sharing service.

Is your favorite service not represented — or not high enough! — in the list? Let us know in the comments! And to make sure your vote counts next time, be sure to check back tomorrow for the next edition of the Lunchtime Poll.

Top 10 Mashable Twitter Photo-Sharing Services

10. TwitrPix

9. Twitgoo

8. yfrog

7. twic.li/

6. Flickr

5. Mobypicture

4. Posterous

3. SmugMug

2. ow.ly

1. Twitpic

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography

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Reviews: Flickr, Posterous, Twitgoo, Twitpic, TwitrPix, iStockphoto

Tags: flickr, lunchtime poll, mobypicture, ow.ly, photo sharing, poll, posterous, smugmug, twic.li, twitgoo, twitpic, twitrpix, twitter, yfrog

]]> http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/top-twitter-photo-services/feed/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/top-twitter-photo-services/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/PNDsWVYHJOc/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/youtube-1080p/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:13:55 +0000 Barb Dybwad http://mashable.com/?p=160127 <p><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/youtube-1080p/&service=bit.ly"></a>Although YouTube has been supporting videos in high definition for at least a year now, the resolution has heretofore topped out at 720p. </p> <p>Without getting too far into the technical nitty gritty, 1080p is a higher resolution format made up of more vertical &#8220;lines,&#8221; resulting in a higher quality image. It&#8217;s also referred to as &#8220;full HD&#8221; or &#8220;true high-definition&#8221; because 1080p is currently the maximum resolution that anything supports (well, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2160p" target="_blank">almost</a>). Beginning next week, <a href="http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/11/1080p-hd-comes-to-youtube.html" target="_blank">YouTube will be adding 1080p support</a> to its video playback options.</p> <p>Of course, as with other high definition playback formats, you&#8217;ll need to have 1080p quality video going in to get the proper quality coming back out. But a growing number of consumer video cameras are now supporting the true HD format, so it makes sense that YouTube would want to up the stakes in terms of quality.</p> <p>Good news for videographers who&#8217;ve already uploaded 1080p quality video in the past, too &#8212; YouTube will be re-encoding your videos for you to allow playback at the proper true HD resolution. They also plan to prominently feature great examples of 1080p videos in an upcoming homepage spotlight, so if you have some footage that really shows off what true high resolution can do, now is the time to upload it.</p> <p>Does your video camera record at 1080p? Will you be using the new true high definition feature when it launches next week? </p> <p>[Image courtesy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Progressive_scan_hdtv.svg" target="_blank">Michael Gauthier</a>]</p> <p>Reviews: <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336658-YouTube" target="_blank">YouTube</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/1080p/">1080p</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/full-hd/">full HD</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/hd/">hd</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/video/">video</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/youtube/">youtube</a></p> <img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/youtube-1080p/" alt="" />

Although YouTube has been supporting videos in high definition for at least a year now, the resolution has heretofore topped out at 720p.

Without getting too far into the technical nitty gritty, 1080p is a higher resolution format made up of more vertical “lines,” resulting in a higher quality image. It’s also referred to as “full HD” or “true high-definition” because 1080p is currently the maximum resolution that anything supports (well, almost). Beginning next week, YouTube will be adding 1080p support to its video playback options.

Of course, as with other high definition playback formats, you’ll need to have 1080p quality video going in to get the proper quality coming back out. But a growing number of consumer video cameras are now supporting the true HD format, so it makes sense that YouTube would want to up the stakes in terms of quality.

Good news for videographers who’ve already uploaded 1080p quality video in the past, too — YouTube will be re-encoding your videos for you to allow playback at the proper true HD resolution. They also plan to prominently feature great examples of 1080p videos in an upcoming homepage spotlight, so if you have some footage that really shows off what true high resolution can do, now is the time to upload it.

Does your video camera record at 1080p? Will you be using the new true high definition feature when it launches next week?

[Image courtesy of Michael Gauthier]

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Reviews: YouTube

Tags: 1080p, full HD, hd, video, youtube

]]> http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/youtube-1080p/feed/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/youtube-1080p/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/751pfhJsxCA/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/wordpress-location/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:02:14 +0000 Adam Ostrow http://mashable.com/?p=160122 <p><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/wordpress-location/&service=bit.ly"></a>Location is quickly becoming all the rage. Twitter has started to <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/10/01/twitter-geolocation/">attach location to tweets</a> (and a host of applications are expected to soon support the functionality), Foursquare has quickly <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/10/15/foursquare-new-cities/">expanded to new cities</a>, and Loopt continues to <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/09/loopt-for-blackberry/">expand to new platforms</a> and carriers.</p> <p>Now, WordPress is getting into the game, by letting bloggers that host their sites on WordPress.com automatically attach their location to individual blog posts. Doing so will also make your post searchable by location, so other users can find blog posts from specific places.</p> <p>WordPress says that there’s more to come in the way of location features. In a blog post, the company <a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/a-blog-near-you/" target="_blank">writes</a>, “we’ll gradually roll out more geotagging features, such as showing the location of your commenters, the location of poll votes, a live map view of blog updates on WordPress.com, or an annual report showing you where your posts were written and where your comments came from.”</p> <p>Although maybe not as likely to spawn offline networking in the real-time way that Twitter and Foursquare can (you still have to write a blog post versus a tweet), attaching location could have interesting implications for searching out blog posts in a specific area, especially when news breaks there. Profiles can also be tagged, so if you want to find other WordPress users in your area, you can. </p> <p>Do you think attaching location to blog posts will be valuable? Share your thoughts in the comments.</p> <p>Reviews: <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/494047-Foursquare" target="_blank">Foursquare</a>, <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336651-Twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336657-WordPress" target="_blank">WordPress</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/blogging/">blogging</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/location/">location</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/wordpress/">Wordpress</a></p> <img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/wordpress-location/" alt="" />

Location is quickly becoming all the rage. Twitter has started to attach location to tweets (and a host of applications are expected to soon support the functionality), Foursquare has quickly expanded to new cities, and Loopt continues to expand to new platforms and carriers.

Now, WordPress is getting into the game, by letting bloggers that host their sites on WordPress.com automatically attach their location to individual blog posts. Doing so will also make your post searchable by location, so other users can find blog posts from specific places.

WordPress says that there’s more to come in the way of location features. In a blog post, the company writes, “we’ll gradually roll out more geotagging features, such as showing the location of your commenters, the location of poll votes, a live map view of blog updates on WordPress.com, or an annual report showing you where your posts were written and where your comments came from.”

Although maybe not as likely to spawn offline networking in the real-time way that Twitter and Foursquare can (you still have to write a blog post versus a tweet), attaching location could have interesting implications for searching out blog posts in a specific area, especially when news breaks there. Profiles can also be tagged, so if you want to find other WordPress users in your area, you can.

Do you think attaching location to blog posts will be valuable? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Reviews: Foursquare, Twitter, WordPress

Tags: blogging, location, Wordpress

]]> http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/wordpress-location/feed/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/wordpress-location/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/0JOehomfKxs/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:45:47 +0000 Barb Dybwad http://mashable.com/?p=160095 <p><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/&service=bit.ly"></a>One of the promises of Google&#8217;s Android operating system has always been that it need not stay confined to powering cell phones. That&#8217;s already starting to come to fruition, with an <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/13/acers-android-netbook-now-up-for-pre-order-windows-7-version-c/" target="_blank">Android netbook on the way from Acer</a> and both the <a href="http://www.mashable.com/tag/nook">Barnes &#038; Noble Nook</a> and the <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/10/19/alex-android-ereader/">Spring Design Alex</a> eReaders also launching soon with Android under the hood (thought apparently it&#8217;s no accident <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/spring-design-lawsuit/">the latter two devices are so similar</a>).</p> <p>Now there&#8217;s another Android device on deck that&#8217;s not a phone, dubbed <a href="http://convergeddevices.net/products/vega.html" target="_blank">Vega</a>. Made by Seattle-based company Innovative Converged Devices, the Vega is a tablet-like device with a detachable stand to prop it up, running Android 2.0 (the same version used in the <a href="http://www.mashable.com/tag/droid">Motorola Droid</a>).</p> <p>The device, slated to launch in the first half of 2010, will actually come in three sizes: 7, 11 and 15-inches. It will support connectivity via Wi-Fi as well as 3G, and be available at reportedly &#8220;low cost&#8221; (read: subsidized) from major carriers throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. </p> <p>Designed to be put to flexible use throughout the home, the Vega will feature high-definition entertainment and a touchscreen along with a webcam, Bluetooth support, accelerometer, 512MB RAM and storage via microSD. The brain of the machine will be NVIDIA&#8217;s Tegra processor, a high-powered combination CPU and graphics chip that was designed for low power consumption and long battery life.</p> <p>There&#8217;s no word on what that &#8220;low cost&#8221; price may be, and it may end up varying by carrier as well (no word on whether you&#8217;ll be able to buy it outright without 3G yet, either). Nonetheless, the Vega is certainly an interesting entrant into the once again nascent tablet device playing field, with the <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/09/12/apple-tablet-eats-kindle/">Apple Tablet</a> and the <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/04/courier-ui/">Microsoft Courier</a> being the two hot tablets that no one will admit are real yet.</p> <p>Check out a few more images of the Vega below. Do you see a place for these tablet devices in the home? What would the price need to be for you to pick one up? Would you rather it run Android, Mac OS X, Windows, or something else?</p> <p>[via <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/12/vega-unveiled-as-first-in-home-android-device/" target="_blank">VentureBeat</a>]</p> <p>Reviews: <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336868-Android" target="_blank">Android</a>, <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/390680-Bluetooth" target="_blank">Bluetooth</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/3g/">3g</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/android/">android</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/icd/">ICD</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/tablet/">Tablet</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/vega/">vega</a></p> <img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/" alt="" />

One of the promises of Google’s Android operating system has always been that it need not stay confined to powering cell phones. That’s already starting to come to fruition, with an Android netbook on the way from Acer and both the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Spring Design Alex eReaders also launching soon with Android under the hood (thought apparently it’s no accident the latter two devices are so similar).

Now there’s another Android device on deck that’s not a phone, dubbed Vega. Made by Seattle-based company Innovative Converged Devices, the Vega is a tablet-like device with a detachable stand to prop it up, running Android 2.0 (the same version used in the Motorola Droid).

The device, slated to launch in the first half of 2010, will actually come in three sizes: 7, 11 and 15-inches. It will support connectivity via Wi-Fi as well as 3G, and be available at reportedly “low cost” (read: subsidized) from major carriers throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Designed to be put to flexible use throughout the home, the Vega will feature high-definition entertainment and a touchscreen along with a webcam, Bluetooth support, accelerometer, 512MB RAM and storage via microSD. The brain of the machine will be NVIDIA’s Tegra processor, a high-powered combination CPU and graphics chip that was designed for low power consumption and long battery life.

There’s no word on what that “low cost” price may be, and it may end up varying by carrier as well (no word on whether you’ll be able to buy it outright without 3G yet, either). Nonetheless, the Vega is certainly an interesting entrant into the once again nascent tablet device playing field, with the Apple Tablet and the Microsoft Courier being the two hot tablets that no one will admit are real yet.

Check out a few more images of the Vega below. Do you see a place for these tablet devices in the home? What would the price need to be for you to pick one up? Would you rather it run Android, Mac OS X, Windows, or something else?

[via VentureBeat]

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Reviews: Android, Bluetooth

Tags: 3g, android, ICD, Tablet, vega

]]> http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/feed/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/vega-android-tablet/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/LTeVaf-1AbA/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/att-verizon-response/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:23:26 +0000 Adam Ostrow http://mashable.com/?p=160102 <p><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/att-verizon-response/&service=bit.ly"></a>The war of words between Verizon and AT&#038;T continues. In case you haven’t been following, it all started with Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” ads mocking AT&#038;T’s coverage. Recently, <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/03/att-verizon-lawsuit/">AT&#038;T sued Verizon</a> over the ads, but that didn’t stop the latter from continuing the campaign in a <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/08/verizon-holiday-ads/">new holiday campaign</a>.</p> <p>Now, AT&#038;T is out with a <a href="http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=14002" target="_blank">statement</a>, because Verizon’s ads “are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&#038;T&#8217;s wireless data coverage.”</p> <p>The issue primarily stems from the coverage map in the commercials that make it appear as if AT&#038;T doesn’t cover huge portions of the US, though in reality, the map only shows 3G coverage areas. In its statement, AT&#038;T says that 75% of the country is covered by its 3G service, and virtually everyone is covered by either EDGE or GPRS. </p> <p>AT&#038;T also points out that it’s the #1 network for smartphones and has the most wireless apps, though that’s obviously in large part due to it being the exclusive provider of the iPhone. That may change next year, as in what would be an ironic twist of fate, <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/06/verizon-iphone-2010/">Verizon is rumored</a> to be bringing the device to its network.</p> <p>In case you haven&#8217;t seen them, here are a couple of the Verizon ads that has AT&#038;T all hot and bothered:</p> <p>There&#8217;s a Map for That</p> <p>Misfit Toys</p> <p>Tags: <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/apple/">apple</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/att/">att</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/iphone/">iphone</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/verizon/">verizon</a></p> <img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/att-verizon-response/" alt="" />

The war of words between Verizon and AT&T continues. In case you haven’t been following, it all started with Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” ads mocking AT&T’s coverage. Recently, AT&T sued Verizon over the ads, but that didn’t stop the latter from continuing the campaign in a new holiday campaign.

Now, AT&T is out with a statement, because Verizon’s ads “are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T’s wireless data coverage.”

The issue primarily stems from the coverage map in the commercials that make it appear as if AT&T doesn’t cover huge portions of the US, though in reality, the map only shows 3G coverage areas. In its statement, AT&T says that 75% of the country is covered by its 3G service, and virtually everyone is covered by either EDGE or GPRS.

AT&T also points out that it’s the #1 network for smartphones and has the most wireless apps, though that’s obviously in large part due to it being the exclusive provider of the iPhone. That may change next year, as in what would be an ironic twist of fate, Verizon is rumored to be bringing the device to its network.

In case you haven’t seen them, here are a couple of the Verizon ads that has AT&T all hot and bothered:

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There’s a Map for That

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Misfit Toys

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Tags: apple, att, iphone, verizon

]]> http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/att-verizon-response/feed/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/att-verizon-response/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/iOziVw1RieA/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/aviation-twitter/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:42:55 +0000 Shashank Nigam http://mashable.com/?p=160048 <p><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/aviation-twitter/&service=bit.ly"></a>Shashank Nigam is the CEO of <a href="http://simpliflying.com/" target="_blank">SimpliFlying.com</a>, an award-winning blog on airline branding. He tweets at <a href="https://twitter.com/simpliflying" target="_blank">@simpliflying</a>. Special thanks to <a href="http://twitter.com/Z_simpliflying" target="_blank">@Z_simpliflying</a> for his contribution to this article.</p> <p>Twitter has a huge aviation community &#8212; from airlines and airports, to cabin crew and aviation enthusiasts. Whether you like to fly planes or just watch planes fly, there are lots of aviation geeks on Twitter with whom you can converse about your passions. Many of these interesting tweeps are tapping into Twitter&#8217;s real-time network to offer up travel tips, airline recommendations (or warnings), and an inside look at life in the cockpit (or cabin).</p> <p>This list has 28 great aviation geeks to follow on <a href="http://mashable.com/category/twitter/">Twitter</a>, however please feel free to suggest others in the comments (or if you tweet about things that fly, leave your own Twitter info). This list is presented in no particular order.</p> <p>13 Aviation Journalists/Bloggers on Twitter</p> <p>Aviation journalists are a rare breed, and a group of people that some might think lead exotic lives they wing around the globe covering the field of flight. The following list of bloggers and journalists all cover the travel and aviation industries with aplomb and tweet passionately about flying. </p> <p>1. <a href="http://twitter.com/BenetWilson" target="_blank">@BenetWilson</a> &#8211; One of the aviation journalism &#8220;legends&#8221; of our time, Benet Wilson has an amazing amount of knowledge about the industry and it is always a pleasure to tweet with her. Everyone who&#8217;s anyone in aviation has probably been interviewed by Benet at some point in his or her career. Benet currently writes on business aviation for Aviation Week.</p> <p>2. <a href="http://twitter.com/flyingwithfish" target="_blank">@flyingwithfish</a> &#8211; Steve Frischling is an ace photographer turned travel guru. His advice on how to pack light or travel safe is invaluable. I personally love the travel iPhone App reviews he does at his blog, <a href="http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/" target="_blank">Flying with Fish</a>. His tweets are a perfect blend of photo tips, travel tips and views on airlines.</p> <p>3. <a href="http://twitter.com/danwebbage" target="_blank">@danwebbage</a> &#8211; Dan Webb is a wunderkind, who&#8217;s quite an aviation freak. Still a college student, he does an outstanding job blogging passionately about the industry over at the <a href="http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thingsinthesky/" target="_blank">Things in the Sky</a> blog. He&#8217;s also the co-host of the <a href="http://www.airplanegeeks.com/" target="_blank">Airplane Geeks Podcast</a>, and his Twitter stream is always full of his unique personal insights.</p> <p>4. <a href="http://twitter.com/roncallari" target="_blank">@roncallari</a> &#8211; Ron Callari has a ton of experience working in the travel industry. He blogs at <a href="http://inventorspot.com/" target="_blank">InventorSpot</a> and works with travel and hospitality companies around the world. He has over 5,000 followers on Twitter.</p> <p>5. <a href="http://twitter.com/aschonland" target="_blank">@aschonland</a> &#8211; Addison Schonland hosts the very popular <a href="http://iagblog.podomatic.com/" target="_blank">IAG Podcast</a>. He&#8217;s one of the most forward-thinking Gen X persons I&#8217;ve known, and is always brimming with great ideas about the next big thing in aviation. His tweets are very inspiring.</p> <p>6. <a href="http://twitter.com/BLRAviation" target="_blank">@BLRAviation</a> &#8211; No one knows Indian aviation better than Devesh Aggarwal. Once a million-miler with Singapore Airlines, he&#8217;s now based out of Bangalore and runs the <a href="http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/" target="_blank">Bangalore Aviation</a> blog. The insights and statistics on Indian aviation that he shares on Twitter are a revelation. He also knows the best kebab places in Bangalore (and has taken me to some of them, too!).</p> <p>7. <a href="http://twitter.com/RunwayGirl" target="_blank">@RunwayGirl</a> &#8211; Mary Kirby adds the oomph factor to aviation geeks on Twitter! No one knows in-flight entertainment and equipment better than her, and she gives us the ins and outs of what&#8217;s in the plane, from wifi to the IFE. Check out her very cool Twitpics on the future of a &#8220;sleeper cabin&#8221; in the Economy class. She writes for Flight International at <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/" target="_blank">RunwayGirl</a>.</p> <p>8. <a href="http://twitter.com/crankyflier" target="_blank">@crankyflier</a> &#8211; The self-acclaimed &#8220;airline dork,&#8221; Brett Snyder is probably one of the most famous aviation bloggers, having worked in a travel agency when ee was a teenager and been totally &#8220;into&#8221; airlines ever since. His insights on his <a href="http://crankyflier.com/" target="_blank">CrankyFlier</a> blog and on Twitter are daring, straight-forward, and always make you stop and think. He has very intriguing perspectives on the industry.</p> <p>9. <a href="http://twitter.com/flightblogger" target="_blank">@flightblogger</a> &#8211; How can this list be complete without mentioning probably the only Boeing outsider who often knows more than the insiders? Jon Ostrower is the <a href="http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/" target="_blank">FlightBlogger</a> and tweets about the latest Boeing updates. Even Boeing employees read his blog and tweets to keep up to date with the latest developments in the company.</p> <p>10. <a href="http://twitter.com/rickseaney" target="_blank">@rickseaney</a> &#8211; Rick Seaney is the CEO of FareCompare.com who&#8217;s often quoted by the mainstream media about the latest in aviation. He&#8217;s a world class aviation expert who not only tweets about fare drops and deals to grab, but also some very unique happenings in aviation, like how Air New Zealand aims to turn Economy Class seats into beds. No wonder he&#8217;s the media&#8217;s go-to guy for all things air travel &#8212; he&#8217;s got the answers. And he loves to share his knowledge, in real-time, on Twitter.</p> <p>11. <a href="http://twitter.com/Middleseat" target="_blank">@MiddleSeat</a> &#8211; Scott McCartney writes The Wall Street Journal&#8217;s &#8220;Middle Seat&#8221; column and is the author of the new book &#8220;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Street-Journal-Guide-Power-Travel/dp/0061688711" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel: How to Arrive with Your Dignity, Sanity, and Wallet Intact</a>.&#8221; He&#8217;s got very refreshing perspectives on the latest happenings in aviation, and if you can&#8217;t keep up with his column, do read his tweets.</p> <p>12. <a href="https://twitter.com/TodayInTheSky" target="_blank">@TodayintheSky</a> &#8211; USA Today&#8217;s Ben Mutzabaugh has created a reputation for intriguing analysis on the latest aviation happenings. And now, you can get acquainted with this talented journalist on Twitter too. He shares not just his own articles, but also those from around the web about aviation. Quite insightful.</p> <p>13. <a href="http://twitter.com/elliottdotorg" target="_blank">@elliotdotorg</a> &#8211; Elliot, who&#8217;s already famous for answering travel questions on Elliot.org as well as MSNBC Travel, is now helping travelers on Twitter too. And he writes very helpful articles on travel, as well. One of my favorites is how <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31727411/ns/travel-tips/" target="_blank">social media can help your vacation travel</a>. </p> <p>10 Airline Crew Tweeps</p> <p>People often do not talk about the individuals that actually make an airline work. Not the corporate executives, but the group that work closely with passengers day in day out &#8212; the airline crew. Twitter&#8217;s aviation community counts among its numbers a bunch of airline crew tweeps that you can follow. Listen to their adventures, joys, and grievances in being at the forefront of such an industry, perhaps tweeted from a jumpseat.</p> <p>14. <a href="http://twitter.com/Heather_Poole" target="_blank">@Heather_Poole</a> &#8211; Heather Poole is by far one of the most popular airline crew members on Twitter. She has worked for a major US carrier for fourteen years, spending most of that time flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles. She gives a very candid view on what it&#8217;s like to fly on her blog and why she says &#8220;it&#8217;s like [working] inside a germ infested petri dish.&#8221; Heather also has a huge following for her <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23laviators" target="_blank">#laviators</a> initiatives, in which people take photos inside an airplane lavatory and post it online. She has over 6,500 followers on Twitter and writes in the Gossip Galley column for Gadling.com.</p> <p>15. <a href="http://twitter.com/flygirl737700" target="_blank">@flygirl737700</a> &#8211; Laura Groves is a major airline pilot and probably the only one with an M.A. in Byzantine art. She is also a published writer, amateur sailor, kayaker, and a self confessed part-time tree-hugger. She provides a good perspective on things from a pilot&#8217;s point of view. Currently Laura has more than 3,500 followers on Twitter.</p> <p>16. <a href="http://twitter.com/theflyingpinto" target="_blank">@theflyingpinto</a> &#8211; The Flying Pinto has been a flight attendant for a major U.S. Airline for over 20 years. She uses Twitter to offer her best advice on making your travels through the &#8220;friendly&#8221; skies more friendly and she shares her experiences with you and offers you a glimpse behind the galley curtain. She&#8217;s also a regular contributor to <a href="http://www.hipcompassescapes.com" target="_blank">Escapes Magazine</a>.</p> <p>17. <a href="http://twitter.com/Sodwee" target="_blank">@Sodwee</a> &#8211; Airboy, also known as Sodwee, is a 23 year old male flight attendant currently working for Emirates since March 2008. Although his professional experience in the airline industry is not as extensive as some others, he has a really popular blog and podcast where he not only writes about his adventures on Emirates, but also the latest happenings on the region&#8217;s other carriers.</p> <p>18. <a href="http://twitter.com/TraytablesTrvls" target="_blank">@TraytablesTrvls</a> &#8211; This 20-something Australian flight attendant for an international airline also authors a travel blog, &#8220;<a href="http://traytables-travels.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">In case of emergency&#8230;</a>&#8221; Planning to trot the globe over the coming year and to learn more about the people of the world as well as himself, he shares his travel experiences from the jump-seat with a lot of passion.</p> <p>19. <a href="http://twitter.com/flyheatherfly" target="_blank">@flyheatherfly</a> &#8211; Heather M is a flight attendant based in Germany and shuttles frequently between Europe and the USA. Though she laughs at the notion of the &#8220;glamorous life&#8221; of cabin crew members, Heather is a genuine travel enthusiast whose hobby is probably collecting stamps in her passport. She still has a relatively small following on Twitter (which is bound to grow), but she is a seasoned and avid documenter of her travels.</p> <p>20. <a href="http://twitter.com/skysteward" target="_blank">@skysteward</a> &#8211; Gailen David is &#8220;The Sky Steward&#8221; and has flown for a major US airline for over twenty years. In addition to flying as a member of the crew, Gailen also flies regularly for business as a passenger and has even earned AAdvantage Platinum status with American Airlines, so he sees things from both sides. His book, &#8220;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0595495206?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=theskyste-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=0595495206" target="_blank">Jetiquette: The Customer Experience and You</a>,&#8221; was written for flight attendants and others who deal with the public. </p> <p>21. <a href="http://twitter.com/StarVillanueva" target="_blank">@StarVillanueva</a> &#8211; Star Villanueva is an international cabin crew member from the Philippines, and she is currently flying for one of the major airlines in the Middle East. In addition to tweeting, she keeps a very interesting blog too. Her blog is very educational for those living the crew life; on it she write about things like beauty secrets and steps she takes to maintain her health and fitness while flying on a busy schedule. She is still is quite new to Twitter, but shares unique and personal insights from the mind of a cabin crew member.</p> <p>22. <a href="https://twitter.com/BethanyinFL" target="_blank">@BethanyinFL</a> &#8211; Bethany is a flight attendant who&#8217;s lived all over the world, and has recently moved back from England to Florida. Married to a Brit, she shares her candid travel adventures and is often found engaging with those who reply to her tweets.</p> <p>23. <a href="https://twitter.com/FlyAArmy" target="_blank">@FlyAArmy</a> &#8211; Shelby career started with the Army, and now she&#8217;s a flight attendant. Her interesting tweets come from airports, runways, taxiways and sometimes from even inside the plane (because she never seems to tune off!).</p> <p>5 More Behind-the-Scenes Aviation Tweeps</p> <p>There are a few more people who share 140-character gems on Twitter about airlines and the business of flying, who for one reason or another did not fit into the above categories. If you love to fly, or love learning about planes and aviation, these are great folks to follow.</p> <p>24. <a href="http://twitter.com/tonyfernandes" target="_blank">@tonyfernandes</a> &#8211; Often referred to as the Richard Branson of Asia, Tony is the CEO of AirAsia, one of the most successful low cost carriers in Asia. On his Twitter feed, Tony shares everything from where he&#8217;s hanging out to new job openings at AirAsia. He&#8217;s even used social media to hire an entire department for his airline!</p> <p>25. <a href="https://twitter.com/azranosmanrani" target="_blank">@azranosmanrani</a> &#8211; Azran is Tony&#8217;s partner in crime, and leads AirAsia X &#8211; the low-cost, long-haul airline flying to Australia, UK, China and now the Middle East from Malaysia. A former McKinsey consultant, he wants to run 10 marathons before he turns 40. He shares some very candid personal insights about his efforts in making AirAsia X successful.</p> <p>26. <a href="https://twitter.com/paulaberg" target="_blank">@paulaberg</a> &#8211; Paula is the brains behind Southwest Airlines&#8217; social media forays. I&#8217;ve met her in person, and can tell you that her real-life enthusiasm totally comes through in her tweets, which can be about anything from the latest Southwest promotion to her thoughts about PR.</p> <p>27. <a href="http://twitter.com/christiday" target="_blank">@christiday</a> &#8211; Christi is Paula&#8217;s right-hand lady, looking after Southwest&#8217;s Twitter account (<a href="http://twitter.com/southwestair" target="_blank">@SouthwestAir</a>). I honestly don&#8217;t know when Christi sleeps, because she always seems to be replying to tweets from the airline&#8217;s account, and her personal one, as well. Great insider&#8217;s point of view on the airline industry and social media.</p> <p>28. <a href="https://twitter.com/mhjohnston" target="_blank">@mhjohnston</a> &#8211; Morgan Johnston is a former videographer turned social media maven. He heads up the social media initiatives at JetBlue Airways and packs quite a punch in his tweets. Morgan is a thought-leader in the social media world, an important figure in the world of aviation, and he tweets for the official <a href="http://twitter.com/JetBlue" target="_blank">@JetBlue</a> account.</p> <p>More Twitter follow lists from Mashable:</p> <p>- <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/07/08/twitter-musicians/">Musicians on Twitter: 100+ Artists That Tweet</a></p> <p>- <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/08/13/twitter-foodies/">Tasty Tweets: 55+ Foodies to Follow on Twitter</a></p> <p>- <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/06/15/twitter-environmentalists/">Green Tweets: 75+ Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter</a></p> <p>- <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/07/09/twitter-actors/">15 Must-Follow Comedic Film Actors on Twitter</a></p> <p>- <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/05/08/twitter-authors/">Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter</a></p> <p>Image courtesy of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.istockphoto.com/mashableoffer.php">iStockphoto</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=71254">mevans</a></p> <p>Reviews: <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/471772-Australia" target="_blank">Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336651-Twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/393797-iStockphoto" target="_blank">iStockphoto</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/airlines/">Airlines</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/aviation/">aviation</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/flying/">Flying</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/list/">List</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/lists/">Lists</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/twitter/">twitter</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/tag/twitter-lists/">Twitter Lists</a></p> <img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2009/11/12/aviation-twitter/" alt="" />

Shashank Nigam is the CEO of SimpliFlying.com, an award-winning blog on airline branding. He tweets at @simpliflying. Special thanks to @Z_simpliflying for his contribution to this article.

Twitter has a huge aviation community — from airlines and airports, to cabin crew and aviation enthusiasts. Whether you like to fly planes or just watch planes fly, there are lots of aviation geeks on Twitter with whom you can converse about your passions. Many of these interesting tweeps are tapping into Twitter’s real-time network to offer up travel tips, airline recommendations (or warnings), and an inside look at life in the cockpit (or cabin).

This list has 28 great aviation geeks to follow on Twitter, however please feel free to suggest others in the comments (or if you tweet about things that fly, leave your own Twitter info). This list is presented in no particular order.

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13 Aviation Journalists/Bloggers on Twitter

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Aviation journalists are a rare breed, and a group of people that some might think lead exotic lives they wing around the globe covering the field of flight. The following list of bloggers and journalists all cover the travel and aviation industries with aplomb and tweet passionately about flying.

1. @BenetWilson – One of the aviation journalism “legends” of our time, Benet Wilson has an amazing amount of knowledge about the industry and it is always a pleasure to tweet with her. Everyone who’s anyone in aviation has probably been interviewed by Benet at some point in his or her career. Benet currently writes on business aviation for Aviation Week.

2. @flyingwithfish – Steve Frischling is an ace photographer turned travel guru. His advice on how to pack light or travel safe is invaluable. I personally love the travel iPhone App reviews he does at his blog, Flying with Fish. His tweets are a perfect blend of photo tips, travel tips and views on airlines.

3. @danwebbage – Dan Webb is a wunderkind, who’s quite an aviation freak. Still a college student, he does an outstanding job blogging passionately about the industry over at the Things in the Sky blog. He’s also the co-host of the Airplane Geeks Podcast, and his Twitter stream is always full of his unique personal insights.

4. @roncallari – Ron Callari has a ton of experience working in the travel industry. He blogs at InventorSpot and works with travel and hospitality companies around the world. He has over 5,000 followers on Twitter.

5. @aschonland – Addison Schonland hosts the very popular IAG Podcast. He’s one of the most forward-thinking Gen X persons I’ve known, and is always brimming with great ideas about the next big thing in aviation. His tweets are very inspiring.

6. @BLRAviation – No one knows Indian aviation better than Devesh Aggarwal. Once a million-miler with Singapore Airlines, he’s now based out of Bangalore and runs the Bangalore Aviation blog. The insights and statistics on Indian aviation that he shares on Twitter are a revelation. He also knows the best kebab places in Bangalore (and has taken me to some of them, too!).

7. @RunwayGirl – Mary Kirby adds the oomph factor to aviation geeks on Twitter! No one knows in-flight entertainment and equipment better than her, and she gives us the ins and outs of what’s in the plane, from wifi to the IFE. Check out her very cool Twitpics on the future of a “sleeper cabin” in the Economy class. She writes for Flight International at RunwayGirl.

8. @crankyflier – The self-acclaimed “airline dork,” Brett Snyder is probably one of the most famous aviation bloggers, having worked in a travel agency when ee was a teenager and been totally “into” airlines ever since. His insights on his CrankyFlier blog and on Twitter are daring, straight-forward, and always make you stop and think. He has very intriguing perspectives on the industry.

9. @flightblogger – How can this list be complete without mentioning probably the only Boeing outsider who often knows more than the insiders? Jon Ostrower is the FlightBlogger and tweets about the latest Boeing updates. Even Boeing employees read his blog and tweets to keep up to date with the latest developments in the company.

10. @rickseaney – Rick Seaney is the CEO of FareCompare.com who’s often quoted by the mainstream media about the latest in aviation. He’s a world class aviation expert who not only tweets about fare drops and deals to grab, but also some very unique happenings in aviation, like how Air New Zealand aims to turn Economy Class seats into beds. No wonder he’s the media’s go-to guy for all things air travel — he’s got the answers. And he loves to share his knowledge, in real-time, on Twitter.

11. @MiddleSeat – Scott McCartney writes The Wall Street Journal’s “Middle Seat” column and is the author of the new book “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel: How to Arrive with Your Dignity, Sanity, and Wallet Intact.” He’s got very refreshing perspectives on the latest happenings in aviation, and if you can’t keep up with his column, do read his tweets.

12. @TodayintheSky – USA Today’s Ben Mutzabaugh has created a reputation for intriguing analysis on the latest aviation happenings. And now, you can get acquainted with this talented journalist on Twitter too. He shares not just his own articles, but also those from around the web about aviation. Quite insightful.

13. @elliotdotorg – Elliot, who’s already famous for answering travel questions on Elliot.org as well as MSNBC Travel, is now helping travelers on Twitter too. And he writes very helpful articles on travel, as well. One of my favorites is how social media can help your vacation travel.

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10 Airline Crew Tweeps

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People often do not talk about the individuals that actually make an airline work. Not the corporate executives, but the group that work closely with passengers day in day out — the airline crew. Twitter’s aviation community counts among its numbers a bunch of airline crew tweeps that you can follow. Listen to their adventures, joys, and grievances in being at the forefront of such an industry, perhaps tweeted from a jumpseat.

14. @Heather_Poole – Heather Poole is by far one of the most popular airline crew members on Twitter. She has worked for a major US carrier for fourteen years, spending most of that time flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles. She gives a very candid view on what it’s like to fly on her blog and why she says “it’s like [working] inside a germ infested petri dish.” Heather also has a huge following for her #laviators initiatives, in which people take photos inside an airplane lavatory and post it online. She has over 6,500 followers on Twitter and writes in the Gossip Galley column for Gadling.com.

15. @flygirl737700 – Laura Groves is a major airline pilot and probably the only one with an M.A. in Byzantine art. She is also a published writer, amateur sailor, kayaker, and a self confessed part-time tree-hugger. She provides a good perspective on things from a pilot’s point of view. Currently Laura has more than 3,500 followers on Twitter.

16. @theflyingpinto – The Flying Pinto has been a flight attendant for a major U.S. Airline for over 20 years. She uses Twitter to offer her best advice on making your travels through the “friendly” skies more friendly and she shares her experiences with you and offers you a glimpse behind the galley curtain. She’s also a regular contributor to Escapes Magazine.

17. @Sodwee – Airboy, also known as Sodwee, is a 23 year old male flight attendant currently working for Emirates since March 2008. Although his professional experience in the airline industry is not as extensive as some others, he has a really popular blog and podcast where he not only writes about his adventures on Emirates, but also the latest happenings on the region’s other carriers.

18. @TraytablesTrvls – This 20-something Australian flight attendant for an international airline also authors a travel blog, “In case of emergency…” Planning to trot the globe over the coming year and to learn more about the people of the world as well as himself, he shares his travel experiences from the jump-seat with a lot of passion.

19. @flyheatherfly – Heather M is a flight attendant based in Germany and shuttles frequently between Europe and the USA. Though she laughs at the notion of the “glamorous life” of cabin crew members, Heather is a genuine travel enthusiast whose hobby is probably collecting stamps in her passport. She still has a relatively small following on Twitter (which is bound to grow), but she is a seasoned and avid documenter of her travels.

20. @skysteward – Gailen David is “The Sky Steward” and has flown for a major US airline for over twenty years. In addition to flying as a member of the crew, Gailen also flies regularly for business as a passenger and has even earned AAdvantage Platinum status with American Airlines, so he sees things from both sides. His book, “Jetiquette: The Customer Experience and You,” was written for flight attendants and others who deal with the public.

21. @StarVillanueva – Star Villanueva is an international cabin crew member from the Philippines, and she is currently flying for one of the major airlines in the Middle East. In addition to tweeting, she keeps a very interesting blog too. Her blog is very educational for those living the crew life; on it she write about things like beauty secrets and steps she takes to maintain her health and fitness while flying on a busy schedule. She is still is quite new to Twitter, but shares unique and personal insights from the mind of a cabin crew member.

22. @BethanyinFL – Bethany is a flight attendant who’s lived all over the world, and has recently moved back from England to Florida. Married to a Brit, she shares her candid travel adventures and is often found engaging with those who reply to her tweets.

23. @FlyAArmy – Shelby career started with the Army, and now she’s a flight attendant. Her interesting tweets come from airports, runways, taxiways and sometimes from even inside the plane (because she never seems to tune off!).

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5 More Behind-the-Scenes Aviation Tweeps

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There are a few more people who share 140-character gems on Twitter about airlines and the business of flying, who for one reason or another did not fit into the above categories. If you love to fly, or love learning about planes and aviation, these are great folks to follow.

24. @tonyfernandes – Often referred to as the Richard Branson of Asia, Tony is the CEO of AirAsia, one of the most successful low cost carriers in Asia. On his Twitter feed, Tony shares everything from where he’s hanging out to new job openings at AirAsia. He’s even used social media to hire an entire department for his airline!

25. @azranosmanrani – Azran is Tony’s partner in crime, and leads AirAsia X – the low-cost, long-haul airline flying to Australia, UK, China and now the Middle East from Malaysia. A former McKinsey consultant, he wants to run 10 marathons before he turns 40. He shares some very candid personal insights about his efforts in making AirAsia X successful.

26. @paulaberg – Paula is the brains behind Southwest Airlines’ social media forays. I’ve met her in person, and can tell you that her real-life enthusiasm totally comes through in her tweets, which can be about anything from the latest Southwest promotion to her thoughts about PR.

27. @christiday – Christi is Paula’s right-hand lady, looking after Southwest’s Twitter account (@SouthwestAir). I honestly don’t know when Christi sleeps, because she always seems to be replying to tweets from the airline’s account, and her personal one, as well. Great insider’s point of view on the airline industry and social media.

28. @mhjohnston – Morgan Johnston is a former videographer turned social media maven. He heads up the social media initiatives at JetBlue Airways and packs quite a punch in his tweets. Morgan is a thought-leader in the social media world, an important figure in the world of aviation, and he tweets for the official @JetBlue account.

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More Twitter follow lists from Mashable:

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- Musicians on Twitter: 100+ Artists That Tweet
- Tasty Tweets: 55+ Foodies to Follow on Twitter
- Green Tweets: 75+ Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter
- 15 Must-Follow Comedic Film Actors on Twitter
- Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mevans

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Reviews: Australia, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: Airlines, aviation, Flying, List, Lists, twitter, Twitter Lists

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