10 Big Data Pros To Follow On Twitter
Looking for big data expertise on Twitter? Start by following these 10 industry players.
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Twitter's kind of an ironic place to look for big data wisdom. It's an example of the ubiquitous services used by consumers and businesses alike that help generate this avalanche of data in the first place.
Twitter has a valuable collection of big data knowledge -- if you know where to find it. Like other social platforms, Twitter can sometimes get noisy. Throw in a buzzword like "big data," and the noise can get downright cacophonous. So how do you find the information you want?
It helps not to get too caught up with the term "big data" in the first place. "Often the most interesting people to follow for big data would never consider themselves 'big data experts,'" says Matt Asay, vice president of marketing, business development, and corporate strategy at MongoDB.
Asay and other folks in and around the big data universe shared with us their favorite individuals to follow on Twitter for news, ideas, networking, and more. We threw in our own picks, too, and we came up with 10 big data people worth following on Twitter. Consider it a starting point -- your own list might be much longer (more on that later). The fundamental common element: These are people from whom you can learn in 140 characters or less.
That's a good thing. Anyone can drop "big data" or related terms and technologies into a tweet or other communications, but that doesn't mean that person is an expert. I could tweet about a delicious piece of cake, but I'm not a pastry chef. So look beyond terms for substance, and think about other areas -- open source, for example -- that could be highly relevant but are not necessarily strictly big data-related. Keep this in mind as you choose people to connect with and follow.
Asay also says it's sometimes helpful to go straight to the source for certain kinds of information. "I generally prefer to follow things like Pew Research to get the data directly rather than have it parsed by someone else."
If you recall our list of IT leaders to follow on Twitter, there were a handful of ground rules. Those rules, though somewhat altered, also apply here. We weren't seeking any particular job rank or title, as long as the person's work was relevant. ("Person" is an operative word here; organizational handles were not considered.)
We also excluded people in sales, marketing, and related functions. Asay is a good example -- his own feed is worth a follow, but that pesky "marketing, business development, and corporate strategy" title got in the way. There was no prerequisite number of followers. It's more about quality and consistency than sheer popularity (though some folks here are quite popular on Twitter).
Back to that "starting point" thing: Who'd we miss? We think this is a great list, but it's intended as a beginning. Depending on your interests, your own list probably looks different. Who do you follow to stay in the loop, learn, and network? Social is about sharing, after all -- so give up the goods. Tell us which big data gurus you follow in the comments below.
Asay of MongoDB lists Adrian -- along with a Gartner peer, Svetlana Sicular, and RedMonk's Stephen O'Grady (see slides 3 and 4) -- as his go-to sources for big data intelligence. One reason: The trio steers clear of hype. "Each helps to paint the larger picture around big data without becoming breathless about it," Asay says. Adrian tweets regularly about Hadoop, NoSQL, Microsoft, and other topics.
O'Grady, another member of Asay's big data trinity, is a good example of someone you might overlook if you're simply scanning for buzzwords like, well, big data. He tweets and blogs about a variety of software and development topics, among other areas. Yankees fans, be forewarned: O'Grady's a New Englander, and you'll have to suffer a Red Sox tweet or three -- and perhaps an IT-themed barb from time to time.
The third player in Asay's triple threat, Sicular tweets on all things big data, analytics, BI, data warehousing, data architecture, and Hadoop, among other topics. She also chimes in on specific vendors in the big data universe, such as Cloudera, and she shares bits and pieces from Gartner's research reports, such as: By 2015, 25% of large global enterprises will have appointed a "chief data officer."
Don't let that whole "rocket scientist" thing scare you off. Borne got a couple of recommendations for his Twitter feed, in part for his regular sharing of news and links of relevance to anyone interested in big data and related topics. Asay of MongoDB views Borne's feed as an industry reading list, for example -- and he's not alone. Borne "regularly posts and retweets links to interesting articles on big data and data science," says Revolution Analytics executive David Smith. "I like the way he offers a scientific view on the more traditionally business-oriented articles."
Piatetsky's KDNuggets site (KD stands for "Knowledge Discovery") is a trove of big data, data mining, and analytics information. His Twitter feed is similarly focused, though it also links widely around the web to a variety of other sources of big data know-how. Job hunters, take note: KDNuggets also regularly tweets data-related job openings.
How can we not like someone who's both a data scientist and a journalist? Pierson works with a range of clients via her Data-Mania concern, and her Twitter feed is chock full of big data-related news, data visualization discussions, insights on data-related vendors, and other topics.
A data scientist by trade, Gentry is also a prolific tweeter with a sharp eye for news and trends that will have an impact on the industry. She's also quick with an opinion, often pointing out, for example, that data science and big data aren't synonymous -- in fact, the former long predates the latter.
Fitzgerald works with Wall Street banks and others to develop quantitative, data-driven business strategies. He tweets on all things analytics, big data's impact on the bottom line, industry conferences, data science, and other topics.
Baer, another favorite among the analyst community, leads the big data research at Ovum. He covers big data issues like open data and data management; companies and platforms such as Cloudera, MongoDB, Cloudant, and HortonWorks; and other related topics. And he was a journalist in a former life, counting InformationWeek among his publishing claims to fame.
Borba's active feed is a particularly good read if you're interested in how big data translates to bottom-line business -- in other words, making money. In addition to offering regular tweets on big data and analytics, Borba shares recommendations of other people to follow.
Borba's active feed is a particularly good read if you're interested in how big data translates to bottom-line business -- in other words, making money. In addition to offering regular tweets on big data and analytics, Borba shares recommendations of other people to follow.
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