Directory: 100 technology experts on Twitter

One the most important -- and most difficult -- things to do when you first start using Twitter is to develop a good list of people to follow. You can check your friends' lists of followers, watch for interesting people that come up in @replies, and look for personalities and brands who promote their Twitter addresses. But, it can take several months to build up a good list. For technology professionals, I'm going to give you a big head start.

This is part three of my three-part series on Twitter. Here are links to the other two parts:

• Part 1: A quick Twitter guide and glossary for business users
• Part 2: 10 valuable Twitter utilities for business users

Below is a list of 100 technology experts who are active on Twitter. This list is dominated by tech media professionals and pundits but also includes some CEOs, CTOs, and developers who are worth listening to.

Still, even if you choose to follow everyone on my list, I'd encourage you to regularly cull the list of people you follow. If someone regularly posts useless information or lots of stuff you don't care about, unfollow the person. That's what I do. I keep the list of people I follow to about 100-200 and I often add new people while regularly weeding out my list of people who aren't providing anything interesting or useful.

For more insights on technology, you can also follow my Twitter stream: @JasonHiner

I wish there was an easy way for you to simply push a button and add all 100 people on this list to your "following" list on Twitter. Unfortunately, there's not. So you will need to go to the Twitter profile of each person you're interested in Following. This is something that Twitter needs to improve. It needs a group or list feature so that people can set up lists like this and users can then follow the entire list with a single click. It should function the same way OPML files function for lists of RSS feeds.

So here is the list, which is not ranked 1-100 but simply listed in alphabetical order. If there are others you think should be added to the list, make a note in the comments.

1. Chris Anderson (@chr1sa) Editor in Chief of Wired and author of The Long Tail
2. Michael Arrington (@techcrunch) Founder of TechCrunch
3. John Battelle (@johnbattelle) Author and pundit on Google and Internet search
4. Veronica Belmont (@veronica) Former CNET TV and Mahalo Daily host
5. Randall Bennett (@randallb) Founder of TechVi; former CNET TV producer
6. David Berlind (@dberlind) TechWeb Editor-at-Large
7. Ryan Block (@ryanblock) Former Engadget editor and co-founder of GDGT
8. Henry Blodget (@hblodget) Controversial Wall Street journalist who covers tech sector
9. Danah Boyd (@zephoria) Academic/researcher in new media
10. Ed Bott (@edbott) Microsoft Windows expert, blogger, book author
11. Jason Calacanis (@jasoncalacanis) CEO of Mahalo, founder of Weblogs Inc.
12. Pete Cashmore (@mashable) CEO of Mashable
13. David Davis (@davidmdavis) Author, blogger, expert on Cisco and virtualization technologies
14. Chris Dawson (@mrdatahs) ZDNet blogger on technology in education
15. Natali Del Conte (@natalidelconte) CNET TV host of Loaded and tech correspondent for CBS News
16. Mrinal Desai (@mrinaldesai) Co-founder of CrossLoop; tech news junkie
17. Sam Diaz (@sammyd) ZDNet news hound on the Between the Lines blog
18. Larry Dignan (@ldignan) ZDNet Editor in Chief; prolific tech news blogger
19. Esther Dyson (@edyson) Veteran technology pundit
20. Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) Google engineer, blogger
21. Bill Detwiler (@billdetwiler) TechRepublic's head technology editor
22. John C. Dvorak (@therealdvorak) Famously cranky tech pundit
23. Erik Eckel (@erikeckel) IT consultant and TechRepublic writer
24. Mike Elgan (@mike_elgan) Widely-published freelance tech writer
25. Rob Enderle (@enderle) Long-time analyst of the PC industry
26. Caterina Fake (@caterina) Co-founder of Flickr
27. Dan Farber (@dbfarber) Editor of CBSNews.com; former editor of CNET and ZDNet
28. Scot Finnie (@sfinnie) Editor in Chief of Computerworld
29. Mary Jo Foley (@maryjofoley) One of the world's top commentators on Microsoft
30. Ina Fried (@inafried) CNET's resident Microsoft analyst
31. John Furrier (@furrier) Silicon Valley entrepreneur; now specializing in mobility
32. Steve Gillmor (@stevegillmor) Editor of TechCrunch IT, veteran tech journalist
33. Bob Gourley (@bobgourley) CTOvision.com blogger; government IT expert
34. John Gruber (@gruber) Author of Daring Fireball blog; covers mostly Apple
35. Dion Hinchcliffe (@dhinchcliffe) Blogger and consultant on Web 2.0 for business
36. Chuck Hollis (@chuckhollis) EMC CTO and blogger
37. Andy Ihnatko (@ihnatko) Apple pundit
38. Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) Professor and author who covers intersection and tech and media
39. Mitch Kapor (@mkapor) Lotus, Mozilla pioneer; angel investor
40. Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) Venture capitalist and former Mac columnist
41. Michael Krigsman (@mkrigsman) Watchdog of IT project failures
42. Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda) Freelance author covering Silicon Valley
43. Leo Laporte (@leolaporte) Host of TWiT network and former TechTV host
44. Brian Lam (@blam) Editorial Director of Gizmodo
45. Nicole Lee (@nicole) CNET editor on cellphones and smartphones
46. Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) ZDNet blogger on social media for business
47. Cali Lewis (@calilewis) Host of GeekBrief.TV
48. Charlene Li (@charleneli) Author and social media thought leader
49. Jim Louderback (@jlouderb) CEO of Revision3; former editor of PC Magazine
50. Scott Lowe (@scottdlowe) CIO, author, and TechRepublic columnist
51. Andrew Mager (@mager) Web developer and ZDNet blogger on Web 2.0
52. Om Malik (@om) Founder of GigaOm
53. Amber MacArther (@ambermac) Tech journalist and broadcaster
54. Richard MacManus (@rww) Editor and founder of ReadWriteWeb
55. Marissa Mayer (@marissamayer) Google product development executive
56. Caroline McCarthy (@caro) CNET writer covering Web 2.0
57. Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) Founder of Technologizer and former editor of PC World
58. Tom Merritt (@acedtect) Host of Buzz Out Loud and various CNET TV shows
59. Walt Mossberg (@waltmossberg) Tech columnist for The Wall Street Journal
60. Rafe Needleman (@rafe) Editor of CNET's Webware
61. Patrick Norton (@patricknorton) Tekzilla host and former TechTV personality
62. Andrew Nusca (@editorialiste) ZDNet news writer; SmartPlanet.com editor
63. Tim O'Reilly (@timoreilly) Founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media
64. Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang) Forrester analyst on new media technologies
65. Jason Perlow (@jperlow) ZDNet blogger and Linux Magazine writer
66. Chris Pirillo (@chrispirillo) Tech geek turned Internet personality
67. Jason Pontin (@jason_pontin) Editor in Chief of MIT Technology Review
68. David Pogue (@pogue) Tech columnist for New York Times and CNBC
69. JR Rafael (@jr_raphael) Tech news writer for PC World
70. Maggie Reardon (@maggie_reardon) CNET reporter on mobile and wireless technology
71. Don Reisinger (@donreisinger) Gadget columnist for CNET
72. Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) Founder of Techmeme
73. Peter Rojas (@peterrojas) Original creator of both Gizmodo and Engadget
74. Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) Founder of Digg.com, host of Diggnation
75. Joshua Schachter (@joshu) Creator of Delicious, a.k.a. del.icio.us
76. Jack Schofield (@jackschofield) Computer editor at The Guardian
77. Erick Schonfeld (@erickschonfeld) TechCrunch editor
78. Robert Scoble (@scobleizer) Tech writer and social media flag-bearer
79. Sascha Seagan (@saschasegan) Mobile writer for PC Magazine
80. Doc Searls (@dsearls) Tech journalist, author, open source advocate
81. Stephen Shankland (@stshank) CNET News reporter, covering Web and search
82. Deb Shinder (@debshinder) Popular tech tip writer for TechRepublic and other publications
83. Dwight Silverman (@dsilverman) Technology editor for the Houston Chronicle
84. Jason Snell (@jsnell) Editorial Director of Macworld
85. Mark Spoonauer (@mspoonauer) Editor in Chief of LAPTOP
86. Robert Strohmeyer (@rstrohmeyer) PC World editor and columnist
87. Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) Silicon Valley blogger for AllThingsD.com
88. Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) Microsoft Windows columnist, editor, and podcaster
89. Joshua Topolsky (@joshuatopolsky) Editor in Chief of Engadget
90. Gina Trapani (@ginatrapani) Founding editor of Lifehacker.com
91. Lance Ulanoff (@lanceulanoff) Editor in Chief of PC Magazine
92. Rick Vanover (@rickvanover) Senior IT professional and TechRepublic blogger
93. Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) Writer on mobile tech and IT in education
94. Werner Vogels (@werner) Amazon.com CTO
95. Jack Wallen (@jlwallen) Linux enthusiast, columnist, and tip writer
96. Padmasree Warrior (@padmasree) CTO of Cisco Systems
97. Fred Wilson (@fredwilson) Tech venture capitalist in New York
98. Alex Wolfe (@awolfe58) Editor in Chief of InformationWeek
99. Molly Wood (@mollywood) CNET TV host and creator of the famed "Molly rant"
100. Dave Zatz (@davezatz) Gadget and digital lifestyle blogger