Big Data Republic (BDR), a big data community, recently ran a contest for its readers to nominate their favorite Twitter influencers on our favorite topic #BigData.
Using PeerIndex and a panel of real, live, human judges (which we consider a key ingredient to the legitimacy of big data analytics), BDR has compiled a list of the top 100 influencers on Twitter – the result of the month-long contest. BDR threw out any “inbound marketing spambots” and accounts not keenly focused on big data to further legitimize the list.
Tom H. C. Anderson (@tomhcanderson) came in first and we’re honored that our @TibcoSpotfire tweets are in the top 40 – ringing in at No. 34.
Now that we’ve explained the decision process, we thought it would be fun to take a look around Twitter to bring you five of the best tweets and resources from these big data pros. And unlike BDR, our list is non-scientific – we just scoured Twitter feeds for nuggets worth sharing. Enjoy!
First on our list (and No. 5 on the BDR list) is Seth Grimes (@sethgrimes). Grimes is an independent consultant and founder of the biannual Sentiment Analysis Symposium. His Twitter feed is full of tell-it-like-it-is insights including this one:
“Big Data’s Velocity is about data still in context, information that enables us to react appropriately to conditions as they unfold.”
Next up is a tweeter who hasn’t been on our list before – Ferenc Huszar (@fhuszar). He’s a senior data scientist with PeerIndex and leads the research team in charge of identifying social influencers.
His background is in statistical machine learning and you’ll find fascinating conversations on data in his Twitter feed. We found this question quite intriguing:
“@maxforourtimes Who said little data is dangerous?”
A lady with this month’s Best Twitter Handle is next on our list (No. 11 on the BDR list) – @BigDataGal, otherwise known as Lillian Pierson.
She’s an environmental engineering consultant using big data to help a county determine prime areas of economic development in “one click.” She also moonlights as a travel writer and her Twitter feed is as interesting as her profession. She shares lots of articles and news on projects she’s following/working on. Great stuff.
Fourth on our unofficial list of big data cool folks is Gil Press (@GilPress). Press is a tech consultant with GPress and blogs on the topic of big data for Forbes and at his well-named site – WhatstheBigData. His recent post on Forbes – A Very Short History of IT – is a great read.
Finally, rounding out our list and the BDR list is Hailey McKeefry (@HaileyMcK). She’s the editor-in-chief of Enterprise Conversation, an IT community.
And while this comment from McKeefry didn’t appear on Twitter, it’s spot on:
“IT really needs to be seen as supporting business initiatives and championing corporate goals. I think there will be a synergistic effect. The more organizations experience these good interactions, the more IT will be valued and the more IT can get done.”
Amanda Brandon
Spotfire Blogging Team
