Online Clue

Twitter name
(real name)

Followers

Following

Tweets

@boygenius
(Jonathan S. Geller)

12,950

198

9,563

Before he revealed himself in April (when BoyGeniusReport was acquired by Mail.com Media Corp. in a multimillion-dollar deal) Geller ran the gadget blog (and his Twitter feed) anonymously. Since then he has kept up his steady diet of irreverent commentary on wireless news and whatever gadget he is testing. Though not all of his tweets are directly about wireless, most are and he still manages to break a scoop every now and then.

@ceciliakang
(Cecilia Kang)

2,337

555

1,883

As the technology reporter for the Washington Post, Kang has an inside track on federal technology policy. Often tweeting from FCC meetings or other events in Washington, she is often among the first to know about what the FCC is planning to do. Kang’s tweets are infused with both candy-coated musings and eat-your-vegetables news.

@Gartenberg
(Michael Gartenberg)

9,892

336

32,845

Now an analyst at Gartner, Gartenberg has bounced around from several technology consulting firms, but he is trusted as a reliable and insightful analyst source by both blogs and the mainstream press. He has also become a tech-focused Twitter celebrity. He tweets matter-of-fact analysis and insightful musings about smartphones and other technologies, and is seemingly always using the medium, whether it is to tweet from launch events or while getting a morning bagel. He also regularly takes to Twitter to mock what he calls tech “unicorns” like the Verizon-iPhone.

@harrymccracken
(Harry McCracken)

23,900

2,019

8,351

McCracken is a longtime tech journalist  (he’s been on the beat since 1991) and has made a name for himself by blogging on the site Technologizer. On Twitter, McCracken takes a well-informed, if often, sarcastic look at technology and condenses it into a 140-character form for consumption. (Recent samples: “Then there’s Qi, a good new technology which nobody will know how to pronounce,” and “Sprint will have a ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ app. I’d pay for an “Avoiding the Kardashians” one…”). McCracken provides crack live coverage from industry events (including the Windows Phone 7 launch), and also brings and old-school sensibility to the new medium.

@JohnPaczkowski
(John Paczkowski)

5,955

364

3,775

Paczkowski is the deputy managing editor of AllThingsD, and blogs regularly about the wireless industry, especially smartphones. Most of his Twitter stream is fed directly from ATD, but the headlines he churns out (and the stories behind them) are enough to keep users coming back for more. Some recent samples include:  “Windows Phone 7: There’s an App for Some of That,” “Nokia’s Ari Jaaksi: Meego Home Now,” and “This Just in From the N.S. Sherlock Institute for the Bleeding Obvious: Media Likes Covering Apple.” It should be noted that Paczkowski’s colleague, the indefatigable Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) is also an extremely avid Twitter user, and a sharp one that. Swisher, also a longtime tech journalist, is quick to post replies to those who engage her in conversation (despite having over 702,000 followers) and is always up for a bit of playful banter to go alongside her solid reporting.

@kevinctofel
(Kevin C. Tofel)

4,712

796

7,221

Tofel is the managing editor at jkOnTheRun, a GigaOM site covering mobile technology, and Tofel’s Twitter feed oozes gadget geekiness (in a good way, of course). Tofel can usually be found on Twitter engaged in conversation about the merits of a new phone or service he is testing. Additionally, Tofel is a great Android enthusiast, and is constantly tweaking his Nexus One, which he lets his followers know about. Tofel’s colleague Stacey Higginbotham is (@gigastacey) is also takes to Twitter on a  regular basis. What Tofel brings to Twitter in his earnest love for gadgets,  Higginbotham provides in equal measure for her enthusiasm and knowledge of mobile broadband. She has been especially active on Twitter of late as more carriers have rolled out high-speed mobile broadband to new markets, and is always looking to glean information from followers’ experiences.

@maryjfoley
(Mary Jo Foley)

12,056

347

3,599

Foley has been a Microsoft-watcher for a long time, and has carved out a space in tech reporting as the go-to source for the inside scoop on Microsoft products and services, whether they are mobile or not. Foley takes the time to regularly answer queries about the latest Microsoft rumor, and her Twitter feed reflects both her affection for and skepticism of the company’s products and plans. If anything, as Microsoft ramps up its efforts to promote its new Windows Phone 7 platform, Foley’s feed will become even more of a must-read for Microsoft news than it already is.

@phonescooper
(Eric Zeman)

3,891

2,636

14,701

One of the voices behind Phone Scoop, Zeman is a brash, informed and enthusiastic voice on Twitter on all things mobile. Although he occasionally drifts into the mundane, Zeman’s feed is usually full of biting commentary on the wireless industry and its various personalities (“Dear @ballmerplease botox your armpits before your next public speaking gig,” and “Firstest impression of the Nokia N8? It is the finest hardware crafted by Nokia. Secondest impression of the Nokia N8? I can’t believe it reverts to the Nokia mini-pin charger. Didn’t the EU mandate microUSB standard?”). Zeman’s commentary is caustic, funny and original.

@saschasegan
(Sascha Segan)

6,655

219

8,029

Segan is the senior mobile analyst for PC Magazine, and his coverage is directed at a wider consumer audience. Nevertheless, he is steeped in mobile history and knowledge, and his Twitter feed reflects not only the depth of his knowledge but the sharpness of his wit. When he is not opining about the latest phone he has reviewed, Segan is often found skirmishing with others on Twitter about long-term trends in the mobile industry. His convictions on Twitter are solid, but he is not above changing his mind about Big Topics (a longtime skeptic of the Verizon-iPhone, he says he has recently come around to the idea because the balance of evidence has shifted recently). That marks Segan: he analyzes, both on and off of Twitter, based on the evidence, and is usually pretty spot on.

@zpower
(Chris Ziegler)

4,826

213

6,404

Ziegler is the senior mobile editor for Engadget, and as such, is usually on Twitter letting the world know about whatever scoop the tech blog has landed that week (or day, as the case may be). When he’s not singing his publication’s praises, Ziegler is usually engaged in conversation with other technophiles about the latest tweak to a smartphone operating system or expressing his point of view about a particular smartphone or platform that has caught his eye. (“dumbfounded at the people calling wp7’s third-party apps mediocre — I’d actually call this the strongest start EVER for a new platform.”). His tweets are often off-the-cuff, sharp and always entertaining.