Nevermind @aplusk, Social Media Stars Rise on Twitter

I am sure you've noticed. Twitter is the new home for social media power users. Lured by the conversation and engagement with followers that comes with real-time sharing, the big users are doing a land-grab on Twitter to establish their network. And these networks are big, very active and growing fast. Like Digg, these networks drive awareness of stories. But what is most interesting, is that power users are building very active conversation hubs, centered on sharing high quality content.

For example, check out @zaibatsu, one of the top social media users. Unlike popular celebrities who tweet occasionally, Reg Saddler is building a conversation hub and it's working. He's growing a huge base of followers that enjoy the value of his shared content and the activity of his conversation, and as a result he receives tons of RTs which push his network further. Reg was very successful at driving stories to the Digg home page. At Twitter, his success will be measured by follower count and he's shooting for 500,000. Take a look at the reach and velocity of his conversation.



People like Reg made Digg work. But unlike Digg, Twitter is a distributed network and the conversation hub currently does not have a centralized home - there is no "frontpage" on Twitter for example. Anyone can join the conversation from a variety of Twitter clients and apps. As a result, value and influence is shifting from the host (like Digg) to the actual user (like @zaibatsu): Reg can have a direct relationship with the consumers of his content on Twitter. Conversation hubs are building their own equity value. And new opportunities are available as a result.

Some active conversation hubs:

@zaibatsu

@chrispirillo

@buzzedition

@dudeman718

@mayhemstudios

@cheth

@sharonhayes

@murnahan

@ttlFantastic

@kimsherrell

@tommytrc

Check out analytics of influential Twitter users. Note these conversation hubs have high velocity (they are like a chat room) and generosity (they follow back and engage).