[HTML3]Ah, Twitter. If there’s one thing I know about Twitter and Portland it’s this: Portland loves Twitter. It’s helped our community band together, it’s helped us monitor the weather, and it’s helped inspire new products—like TwitterLocal and Twitalyzer. Heck, we even have Rael Dornfest, the guy engineering our Twitter user experience, here in town.
Twitter and Portland were made for each other.
But when I start thinking about Portland and Twitter there it always leads to questions. Who else in Portland is using Twitter? Who am I missing? Who are the most active and influential people in Portland on Twitter?
Leave it to Twitalyzer, the Portland-based Twitter analysis tool, to answer that question.
They’ve managed to create a list of the top 100 Twitter users in Portland. And with the help of Beer and Blog—our favorite geeky happy hour—they want to bring the top 100 Portland Twitter users together, this Friday.
The creator of Twitalyzer Eric Peterson, consultant and author of Web Analytics Demystified and Web Site Measurement Hacks, will be there to explain his online service. He will also be generously treating each of the 100 most influential among us to a free, refreshing beer. Yay!
Are you on the list? Let’s find out! Eric froze the top 100 list last Friday, and here’s what we’ve got:
- @diyanaalcheva
- @electrcspacegrl
- @brianmbendis
- @ChrisGuillebeau
- @kgwsunrise
- @_SDO
- @stephstricklen
- @marshallk
- @brampitoyo
- @TheSquare
- @donmilleris
- @curtjonestweets
- @rmichaelthomas
- @turoczy
- @ThereinLies
- @caseorganic
- @lynndorman
- @melbrehl
- @Jen2Squared
- @jpsalamanca
- @katalee02
- @whyinthehell
- @enobytes
- @Urban_Lindsay
- @havi
- @xolotl
- @coast2coastmag
- @chriscoyier
- @atlanta978
- @cabel
- @CarriBugbee
- @damiradke
- @scc_skwerl
- @stymper
- @caseyore
- @znmeb
- @fishingbear
- @magicswebpage
- @scizzorwizard
- @smallbizbee
- @freshselects
- @jeanannvk
- @designmama
- @verso
- @knitfemme
- @cloaker
- @forkfly
- @sunnymchao
- @Pampelmoose
- @powells
- @yaatriki
- @joshgard
- @Rich_Mayo
- @bikeportland
- @erictpeterson
- @ericdsnider
- @colligan
- @lauralkgw
- @wiredpig
- @schnik
- @jasonenter
- @emmortal
- @willradik
- @geekygirldawn
- @pdxsays
- @koifusionpdx
- @camikaos
- @kyeungbum
- @bryanrhoads
- @cfpdx
- @drnormal
- @melissalion
- @mizz_brittany
- @davislove
- @bcmystery
- @wildfirefitness
- @unm00red
- @thethermals
- @alanpdx
- @thisKat
- @shutupjami
- @n3tw0rking
- @dividedsequence
- @jaycosnett
- @jarvitron
- @duffbert
- @blazersedge
- @nerdsrocket
- @KimBrater
- @Laurensintents
- @addictedtotext
- @kaylamari
- @kmcdade
- @tylerbraun
- @pdxfilms
- @starchile
- @andtheafterglow
- @artisttarareed
- @ginarau
- @arthabaska
Now, we had to weed the list a little bit for bots and Portland, Maine, and whatnot. But we may have missed some. So if you find a discrepancy or mistake, please let me know and I’ll correct the list.
But see, here’s the thing. Any number of these folks have never been to Beer and Blog, may have never heard of Beer and Blog, or may not be following any Beer and Blog regulars.
So here’s where you can help: if you’re following one of the people on the list, please send them a tweet and let them know about the get together. If we can pull this off, it’s going to be an amazing gathering. Like Guinness Book of World Records sort of stuff.
I know you can do it Portland. Because you love Twitter. And beer. Especially free beer.
Oh. And any Portland-area resident who feels like they were unjustly—or simply accidentally—left off the list due to a slight location discrepancy? I’ll be happy to buy you a beer or another beverage of your choice. I’m looking at you @ahockley and you @jabancroft.
Looking forward to seeing you on Friday.
For more information, read the post from Beer and Blog or RSVP on Upcoming.
(Image courtesy Portland Twisitor Center. Used under Creative Commons.)
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Hmm that would be @Rich_Mayo.
Am I missing a share button for Twitter? I was hoping to easily tweet this 😉 Anyways, this was a fun post to look at, it’s nice to see that Portland has such an active Twitter community. I’m fairly new to PDX, yet saw some familiar names. Like @RichMayo my old boss. I’ll let him know he’s #53. Also, unless I’m mistaken @chriscoyier resides in Florida.
[…] You may remember Twitalyzer from the bit of hubbub it caused last year, when it was used to select the top 100 Twitter users in Portland. […]
[…] You may remember Twitalyzer from the bit of hubbub it caused last year, when the tool was used to select the top 100 Twitter users in Portland. […]
Top tweeters in Portland OR http://siliconflorist.com/2009/06/09/top-100-portland-twitter-users-list-beer-blog/
Cool blog and Portland twitterers @ourpdx http://bit.ly/Bp95k Thanks @turoczy http://tinyurl.com/mql3m4
Katherine,
It actually wasn’t our idea to do the Top 100 list, Rick did that originally a month or so back, but we’ve been interested in the response to be sure. It looks like we won’t have a chance to “demonstrate” anything tonight — no AV — but we’ll be at @beerandblog buying some beer and answering questions.
“As valuable as a FB quiz” 😉
@erictpeterson
I’ve been out at a conference for the last two days so I missed most of the hoopla and I’m probably beating a dead horse. I get that the guys at Twitalyzer were trying to create interest and buzz by posting this list (it looks like it worked!). I do hope that tonight we get a demonstration of the business value of the tool. Otherwise it really is about as valuable as a FB quiz.
cool list. great idea.
@blazersedge
may take more than one beer, but we’ll see… 😉
Greg,
I hope you’ll forgive me if after I GLADLY buy you a beer tomorrow I hug you. You have PERFECTLY encapsulated what we are both trying to do with Twitalyzer (highlight that some people who may not have thousands of followers still have tremendous community in Twitter) and with this BeerandBlog event (bring more of the community together face to face, meet some new people, etc.)
Thanks, and I’ll let you off the hook on the hug if you like 😉
@erictpeterson
P.S. I guess @TheSquare talked about the event on the 7 PM news tonight so this will be interesting to be sure!
Like Bill Cameron, I too am flattered to be on the list but suspect it’s a fluke. But it definitely speaks to what I love about Twitter. It gives everyone a voice, a platform, or just a place to deposit random musings.
What this list and event are doing is making me feel even more a part of a community that I really enjoy, as well as getting me out of the house to actually meet you all face to face.
How can that be a bad thing? How can anyone take any of this so seriously?
I look forward to being there and having some fun!
I wasn’t too worried about not being included on this list but damn, my stats stack up don’t they? WTF? Screw them, I’ll start my own list and leave them out 😉
I had this list brought to my attention the other day when I was “congratulated” by @belgort for being on Portland’s Top 100 Twitter list. I must say I have doubts about any methodology that would have me as a member… 🙂
Mr. Hockey is welcome to my slot, as I’m still convinced my inclusion was some sort of aberration in the time/space continuum (or a divide by zero error)…
Randall… RE: electron sitings.
I heard last night that they have bar coded a molecule. ‘Nuff said. See ya for da beer and da blogging.
45.487427, -122.794815 is actually the last place I tweeted from, out here on the west side, in the actual Silicon Forest. if the list is based on people who locate themselves with less precision, I don’t feel bad being left out. 🙂 I’ll see if I can make the event regardless, so I can get a sympathy vote and an honorable mention.
@merlyn, Oh man oh man you would have made the list if only we had any way to know you were actually in Portland with a score of 6.2 (http://bit.ly/nMxf) As it stands, based on your LOCATION set in Twitter (http://twitter.com/merlyn) we believe you are a powerful influencer in “45.487427, -122.794815” which I think is east of Gresham and thusly not worthy of consideration … 😉
Try changing your LOCATION in your Twitter profile to “Portland, OR” and see what happens later this week.
Come join us for beer at what promises to be a raucous occasion without a doubt.
@erictpeterson (who is probably not on the list … and I’m cool with that!)
Uh…HELLO? Just because I’m in exile in the hell that is beautiful San Francisco, doesn’t mean I don’t tweet the shit out of these other Portland people.
Harrumph.
#goodday #isaidgoodday !
Randal – clearly this is more of an issue of protons (they are huge compared to electrons!!!) than the number of followers you have. 🙂
Number of Followers and Followings are just part of how Influence is calculated. Come down Beer and Blog this Friday!
I’m shocked that my friend @alanpdx, with 889 followers, is on the list, but I myself (@merlyn) with 3509 followers didn’t make it. I question the very methodology. In fact, I now question the entire Internet at its core. Perhaps, even electricity itself. And what are electrons anyway? Has anyone actually seen one? But I digress.
Hey Jeff… frm comment no. 19 – eric:
“Stephanie is spot-on in her assessment … the Top 100 lists are not intended to be anything more than a fun way to find new folks you might want to follow.”
let us proceed to consume much beer while discussing this matter
wow… honored/surprised.
thanks to @Gwopsolot for letting me know about this.
so how do i go about claiming my free beer??
lemme know!
Kenny
FRESHselects.net
So @locket2you is not in the top 100?! Well, I will be at beer and blog on Friday and we can discuss my ranking over a cold one. At least I still have the best lockets in the world! Cant wait to meet all the “top” PDX twitter peeps especially @verso @camikaos @drnormal @ahockley and all the others that I have tweeted the past few months.
PDXsays – Pretty sure that Eric never said anything about horoscopes or “time-water toy for entrainment purposes only” That would have Steph Stricklen who made that comment.
Lets chat on Friday!
— Jeff
@katzpdx
Twitalyzer Product Lead
Betsy,
Thanks for pointing out that Twitalyzer depends on Twitter and Twitter ain’t perfect. Sad but we’re having a major outage right now thanks to “API Fail Whale” and the last response from Twitter was ” we’re working on it ” Even in good times there are some people who just don’t show up in Twitter Search … no idea why.
This is why when people say “Google should buy Twitter” I just smile and nod, smile and nod. Not that Google is better at customer support … but they do seem to get technology 😉
Nothing personal but I’d rather Twitter engineers, um, engineer stuff and make Twitter, you know, work as advertised. I will, however, GLADLY buy you a beer if you come down on Friday. Look for me if you make it!
@erictpeterson
Wow – who knew I had such fans? Thanks for defending my local honor, but I’ve also switched most of my local followers from @betsywhim to @ourpdx, so do most of my local tweeting from that account instead.
Unfortunately, @ourpdx won’t show up in Twitalyzer at all right now – but that’s not at all Eric’s fault; the blame squarely belongs with Twitter.
In fact, I have an open help desk ticket for more than a month now waiting for attention because it’s impossible to search for @ourpdx and get anything that *we’ve* tweeted ourselves. And we’re invisible in hashtag topics as well – do a search on #piechamp and we’re mysteriously absent again – imagine that!
So give the beer to a Twitter engineer on my behalf; I’d love to get a fix sometime soon!
Recount!
I made the list and I’m proud, but you have a beer n blog on Friday to celebrate and I can’t be there… dang! @pampelmoose
Checking your horoscope is not just a lark if you read Free Will Astrology in the WillyWeek! 😉 That’s good stuff!
Uh… from what I gathered at SoMe awards, and Social Media Club case studies meeting in May
Twitalyzer Product Lead: Objectives of project: What the value is of different social media platforms are. And how organizations and social media consultants can figure out the ROI… what’s influence ppl may have. The end results is Twitalyzer which we like to think of as Google Analytics with Twitter…. and let individuals figure out what their influence is. And for small business this is about understanding the metric, what is the value…. .[ http://live.blazestreaming.com/smc/ at about 9:30 min into feed]
and from Aboutus.org:
” Measure Your Impact and Success in Social Media
Twitalyzer is a unique tool to evaluate the activity of any Twitter user and report on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, clout, and other useful measures of success in social media. ”
Doesn’t sound like a horoscope objective tome. Unless our intrwbz world based on Google Analytics is a notihg but hooey. Not. Twitalyzer was to be a meaningful analytic tool, not a time-water toy for entrainment purposes only.
So, which is it, guys?
Today’s Phrase-that-Pays: “IMHO: Twitalyzer is fun in the same way getting your horoscope is fun. End of story.” (Thanks @StephStricklen)
And @erictpeterson, thanks for telling the world I once clicked the “location” button on Tweetie revealing declaring my then-location of “12th & Pike”. Uggh. I’ve since corrected… 🙂 I also liked “a way to measure your changing behavior in the medium and objectively determine whether whatever strategy you may have is, in fact, working”. (Even clicked “Like” in a silly moment of social media mixup).
You’ll recall that way up there in post #6 I took the liberty of reallocating some beers… I’m going to give #58’s beer to @betsywhim, in fact she can probably have my #10 as well.
I wasn’t going to attend, but I think now I’ll make a special trip down for the Top 100 Twitter Edition of @beerandblog — why? because you’ve successfully provided a fun excuse to meet new people.
Oh ya, and @erictpeterson? I’ve got a projector in my pocket.
–BMW.
I have a Twitter strategy: to gab with folks and stuff. So far, success! I am flattered to have made the list, though I suspect it was a fluke. But I will take it as a sign that I should come out and meet both current and, hopefully future, Twitter Pals in person. See ya Friday!
Those who are not on the list, let’s meet at Rontom’s or Belmont Station instead. Let’s face it, 100 tweet stars and all their fans will not fit into the Green Dragon even with the patio open..
This is natural in the evolution of community/social media according to cyborg anthropologists.
Mmm beer.
http://www.rontoms.net/
Best selection of beer in PDX: http://www.belmont-station.com/
See you there! Or not.
Halla!
I think I would have made the list…except I’d rather be the King of Beaverton instead of a mere Portland Player :.)
Stephanie is spot-on in her assessment … the Top 100 lists are not intended to be anything more than a fun way to find new folks you might want to follow. Aside from the beer (which I’m happy to buy) there is no reward that I am aware of to be a “Top 10 Twitter Influencer” here in the Rose City. Now perhaps if @TheSquare starts running a monthly feature on “Top Twitter Influencers” using our data that would change, but until then Justin’s vision and our data is just for kicks.
That said, the Twitalyzer application itself ** is ** intended to be more than “a fun little tool” since IMHO there was a big and obvious gap in the tools available to gauge one’s success in Twitter. With Twitalyzer, even if you don’t like the “influence” score, we’re providing a way to measure your changing behavior in the medium and objectively determine whether whatever strategy you may have is, in fact, working.
Of course, benefiting from an application designed to measure the success of your strategy depends an awful lot on having a strategy to begin with. Show of hands … who actually has a strategy for Twitter?
Anyway, assuming we can find a projector, screen, and microphone I will do my best to explain how the service and metrics work. Nice to see so much interest in the list (and the service.)
Eric T. Peterson
Founder, Twitalyzer
eric@twitalyzer.com
@erictpeterson
Wow. Vancouver’s #1 Twit missed the list. @ahockley is as much Portland as he is Vancouver. ;?) I’d be curious how some of the Vancouver twits would fold into this list. Like @radiogretchen said, there are some critical names missing from this list. Fun stuff though. Apparently there are a “few” locals I haven’t yet met on Twitter.
IMHO: Twitalyzer is fun in the same way getting your horoscope is fun. End of story.
Any one of us who have actively tweeted in Portland for more than a few months know there are people not on that list who should be, but really– so what?
From time to time, someone drops the “twitalyzer 100 PDX list” and the debate/discussion is exactly the same as it is right now. Which is cool, but I’m suggesting there is little in the way of new ground here. I say, if you’re on it… great. If not, tweet like hell today and run twitalyzer tomorrow (oversimplifying there, but you know what I mean). The results constantly change. It’s just a fun little tool, IMO, and a chance for you to check out some new local folks on twitter maybe you haven’t heard of before. Nothing more, nothing less.
If anything, how great is any sort of list that gives folks an excuse to hang out at @beerandblog, right? And it’s nice that @erictpeterson is buying, too. 😉
It’s interesting to see the role of the more social among us – and how they are people that other people look to for understanding about what is happening around us. I see this service as being a fairly accurate reflection of where I direct my gaze when I want to get a sense of the zeitgeist of my community.
The list isn’t perfect as it depends on people saying they live in Portland in their bio. Eric Peterson will be at the event to explain how the service works, and that would be a great time to talk with him about suggestions, such as standardizing locations, etc.
so how does the ranking work? based on some of what i saw, i very well might qualify for the list too…. @stephentheH
Yes, of course the list is skewed. It’s completely different if you run it today, too (and I wouldn’t even be on it).
I look at it as just something fun, and don’t take it too seriously (easy for me to say, though, right?).
FYI: I think Twitalyzer doesn’t even pick you up unless you’ve gone to the site and gotten your score. Also, if you do that, you can get further explanation of the score (although I don’t necessarily agree with how the scores are determined).
Lots of good comments and questions here and I promise to try and address them all on Friday at @BeerandBlog. One thing: We make the determination about location (e.g., “Top 100 in PORTLAND”) based on what your LOCATION says in Twitter. This is what is happening to @BMW who with an 11.2 score would handily make the list except his location is “12th and Pike street” which doesn’t tell the system he is in Portland.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, we only know about people who have actually been processed by the system (i.e., Twitalyzed!) recently. If you’re not on the Top 100 list and rule Twitter here in the Rose City, have you Twitalyzed yourself lately? This is what is going on with Bridget who with a 17.6 score would have been near the TOP of the list but her last scoring was April 2nd.
Sad to say because of a massive Twitter failure happening RIGHT NOW we cannot update the list. Excuses, excuses, I know … that said, if Twitter fixes the Search API before Friday I will make a NEW list and present that. IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THE NEW LIST, MAKE SURE YOUR LOCATION IS SET TO “Portland, OR” or at least “Portland” something.
Come to the Green Dragon and hear how Twitalyzer defines “influence” and have your say … we welcome the opportunity to hear what others think about the calculation. And even if you hate it, we’ll probably buy you a drink 😉
Eric T. Peterson
Founder, Twitalyzer
eric@twitalyzer.com
@erictpeterson
Um… once again, here comes a post that makes me the wallflower at that dance.
If you twitalyze by same geo location, but say it a bit differently each time (Portland VS Portland Oregon VS Portland Oregon USA) you get completely different results.
I noticed this a few months ago.
PLS twitalyzer – standardize to stabilize and make this analysis tool relevant. For heavens sake.
Demanding a recount… bye-, bye- beer(die) and possible job opportunities, but yeah… this list is skewed and I know it. You should too.
There are way too many people missing from this list that are absolutely esential to my PDX Twitter experience for me to even begin to mention. Bridget is absolutely one of them. Also – where is @betsywhim or ourpdx? Any list that doesn’t include Betsy is completely out of touch with the local Twitter scene.
There are a few people on this list who fill Twitter with a lot of personal drama, and little else.
There are people on the list who use Twitter to mindlessly market and post trivial links to trivial crap.
I’m not on the list, but I don’t consider myself a top Twitterer. I have used Twitter to successfully organize a few events though. None of them were Tech related. Twitter influence extends way beyond the Tech scene.
What am I missing here? What do you mean by influential? Someone can tweet only 3 times a day and say A LOT. While others tweet 100 times a day and say very little of import. Does Twitalyzer factor that in?
I went to Twitalyzer’s site and took a look at the general categories they include.
Interesting…I score a 1.1 out of a possible 100. Seems sorta low, but what do I know!
http://twitter.com/jmartens
I’ve decided that since #7 (@StephStricklen) isn’t drinking, it’s WAY past #5’s (@KGWSunrise) bedtime, and #10 & #58 (@TheSquare & @LauralKGW) will be working during @beerandblog… AND since I, @BMW, somehow was omitted, I’m giving #7’s beer to @ahockley, #5’s beer to @jabancroft and keeping #10 & #58’s for myself.
Just so you know.
This makes me curious about how the twitanalyzer works. Their dynamic ranking somehow left me off the list…
But! Turoczy said he’d buy me a beer, and I’m loving the opportunity to mingle with Portland’s mighty twitterers!
@petsaretalking
I’d be interested to know that too. It would be a difficult task though, given the noise from the “other” Vancouver to the north.
Would be curious to see where @ahockley, et al ranked if they included Vancouver folks under the Portland umbrella.
When we were weeding, we decided to leave the corporate accounts on the list if they were actively participating—like replying and providing insight. Because obviously there was someone there behind the account.
Twitalyzer will have to comment on the magic for ranking them. 🙂
I love this kind of stuff! Would be interesting to remove some of the corporate and news accounts and see what the list looks like then. Things like @powells and @kgwsunrise.
Just because I am a data geek, what’s the formula that produced the ranking?