1. In 140 characters, tell us about you
Twitter describes me as good ideas, bad ideas and question marks. Still working out in what proportions.

2. Who is your favourite person to follow on twitter?
Professionally, @mediaczar and @superglaze. Two of the most interesting and most challenging media people on different sides of the fence. Given our industry, I think it’s important to pick two.

3. When has social media helped you achieve something great?
It’s more like it helps me achieve tons of little things all the time. Together, they’re probably greater than the sum of their parts — they cover everything from obvious professional duties to where I can find a beer after work or discover new sources of content and intelligence.

Social media has helped me cheat at life and gain an unfair advantage in almost every area. Can’t say fairer than that.

4. What makes you unfollow or unlike somebody?
It’s always about that signal: noise ratio. I generally use my ‘people’ list throughout the day but if someone’s just cluttering up the main timeline without being entertaining for too long, they’re off. Mainly because I’ll probably see them talking to someone else again soon and re-add them.

5. If you could have a topic trend on twitter what would it be and why?
Maybe something like #hashtag that exposes the ridiculousness of it all. Mapping trends across Twitter is one of those things that has always seemed pointless to me in the same way word clouds never reveal much insight. Or how the most highlighted Kindle quotes are almost all from The Hunger Games.

6. Three links you recommend highly are:
http://somethingawful.com/forums/ — Anyone who wants to understand online communities on sites like Twitter, Facebook etc should take a step back and spend some time in real forums. Forget newcomers like Reddit, Something Awful has all the best and the worst of the internet in one place.

http://www.instapaper.com/browse – Forget iPlayer, Spotify etc, Instapaper is the most useful content on demand tool I’ve ever found. I use it to save anything I stumble across during the day and sometimes load it up with longer pieces from The Magazine, Matter and Long Reads. From there it’s simple to comment on them, blog about them or share them on.

I’m cheating again and having two for this last point:
The original announcement of newsfeed on Facebook and TechCrunch’s first post about Twitter.

These two announcements changed the world in their way. And yet there’s almost no sense of just how big their impact would be at the time. Now I’m as cynical as the best of them but I find something about that really cool — and the lesson for me is that you need to try and understand these tools, play with them and break them if you want to discover their potential for yourself.

7. Which perk would you like to see PeerIndex run next?
Free cake. Who doesn’t love cake? Bad people, that’s who.

8. If you were an animal, what would you be?
I might be one of those birds that’s always listening and imitating the sounds around it. What’s interesting about those animals isn’t the accuracy of how they reproduce the noise but how deeply they’re defined by their awareness of and interactions with the world around them.

Catch up with Max on twitter: @maxtb

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

If the recent GigaOM Structure Data Conference is a testament to anything, it’s that big data is growing at an astounding rate. Keeping up with the freshest insight and most innovative ideas is becoming increasingly difficult.

To address this, Big Data Republic launched the #BigData100 Twitter campaign to find the 100 most influential tweeters worth following, but they want your help! Who do you think is worth following? If you follow someone who cuts through the big data hype and tweets interesting and actionable information, nominate them for the #BigData100 here.

To ensure the reliability of these top tweeters Big Data Republic will use a live PeerIndex table and measure the influence of anyone nominated. See who is already ranking in the top 100. A panel will then vote on the top 20 tweeters that are essential for anyone working with big data.

Nominations will close at 12:00PM GMT on April 15, 2013.

Image: DATABASE at Postmasters, March 2009 by Michael Mandiberg / CC BY-SA

Living and loving the digital industry for the last 15 years. Restaurants and shoes my equally important passion.

@Nero is near the top. Bitchy, funny and interesting.

Networks of creative collaboration have long been my love. The arrival of Twitter supercharged these networks, making them more effective and more enjoyable.

Little does. Although constant public petty arguing can get pretty tiring.

#barchocolatereopens My favourite Soho bar, where I spent many years having fun with digital industry friends is sadly, sadly missed.

12ahead.com – fantastic newish digital marketing publication, doing things differently

Thedrum.com – worthy replacement for my beloved NMA

http://www.google.com/think/creative-sandbox/ - obvious but always an amazing source of inspiration

Anything to reduce my Paul Smith bill would be very welcome.

Always a cat. Incredibly well groomed, always curious.

Stay up to date with Justin on twitter.

1. In 140 characters, tell us about you

Fan of all things social with a dose of great food, music and robots

2. Who is your favourite person to follow on twitter?

I love @cindygallop; she’s brave, outspoken and incredibly smart

3. When has social media helped you achieve something great?

Connecting with a network of industry peers using Twitter (largely) has allowed me to build my career as I’ve done so far – and meet some of my best friends in the process.

4. What makes you unfollow or unlike somebody?

Over-sharers and those with constantly negative opinions

5. If you could have a topic trend on twitter what would it be and why?

#basementjaxxreturns – to celebrate the launch of a full-length, new Basement Jaxx album. I miss them.

6. Three links you recommend highly are:

wetransfer.com (never be constrained by paid-for ‘send big file’ services again), hypemachine.com (it’s on ALL day for me, via desktop and mobile app) and asana.com (the new shared task service I’m trialling at work – so far, it’s amazing)

7. Which perk would you like to see PeerIndex run next?

I’d love to get my hands of some exclusive shoes, high heels to be exact. Maybe from Kurt Geiger. In fact, anything to do with Kurt Geiger.

8. If you were an animal, what would you be?

I never know how to answer this. Today I’m going to go for a black panther – they’re pretty serene most of the time, but when things need to happen they get moving pretty fast.

To keep up with Vikki follow her on twitter!

We’re back from South by Southwest and had an awesome time at the conference in Austin, Texas! Our CEO Azeem Azhar pitched the PeerIndex concept to actor Owen Wilson who really liked what he heard. There were some very smart marketers in attendance who were getting ready for the second wave of influence. Our SXSW team met hundreds of awesome people including our fellow exhibitors all looking to make great things happen and being very open to collaboration.

There was a pitch at every party we went to – everyone had an angle, however unusual! We seemed to take the weather with us though – It was cold and wet in one of the warmest parts of America as us Brits arrived!

Check out some pictures of the team in their ‘Science of Influence’ labcoats.

Look out for exciting new projects from PeerIndex coming soon. In the meantime, make sure you check out your profile and see which perks and rewards you qualify for:

Peerindex is at South by Southwest, the giant tech, film and music conference and festival in Austin, Texas. We’ll be in the @Mashery #CMLounge from Friday morning onwards. You’ll find @azeem @PhilGuesty @mischatuffield @andrewthinks @aj_floyd and @daveg in lab coats with tasty treats and a wealth of knowledge on big data, influence marketing, the brand new PeerIndex API and more!

1. In 140 characters, tell us about you
I am @daveerasmus, I love racket sports, having slightly odd conversations and helping drive givey.com forwards as its founder.
2. Who is your favourite person to follow on twitter?
My favourite person currently is probably @alaindebotton
3. When has social media helped you achieve something great?
Twitter helped me get this song to @benhowardmusic and get free guest list tickets to his gig!
4. What makes you unfollow or unlike somebody?
I like it when someone looks like their tweet has come from a genuine revelatory moment!
5. If you could have a topic trend on twitter what would it be and why?
I am not sure but I would want it to invite people to take a real action on something outside of twitter.

6. Three links you recommend highly are:
http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_perspective_is_everything.html
http://www.soundcloud.com/joshrecord
http://www.nickharkaway.com/2012/04/the-blind-giant/

7. Which perk would you like to see PeerIndex run next?
A ‘Good Sandwich’ one that benefits the individual, a good cause and the business brand.

8. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
I would be a badass Lion! I love Mufasa and Aslan!

For more on Givey and Dave follow him on Twitter.

We’ve been investigating influence since 2010. Today we offer you a new take on what influence can mean for you.

You now have access to hundreds of exclusive rewards and discounts based on your PeerIndex.

These build on our hugely popular PeerPerks programme – but from today PeerIndex.com will offer a curated set of 300-500 products and services carrying exclusive influencer-only rates.

Why should I care?

We’ve all recommended a product or a service to a friend. We’ve all taken friends recommendations. We all have a go-to person in our circle – the one whose opinion we trust on technology, movies or eating out. That trust reflects influence. Maybe ‘influence’ isn’t the word we’d use when we think of our mate whose trainer choices we watch like a hawk – but that’s what it is.

Until social media, tracking that influence was difficult. Sure, we could do it in specific domains such as academia. But there was no way to predict patterns of influence in large populations until we all went online.

Of course, businesses have always understood the value of influence. That’s why celebrities get freebies, journalists get previews and industry leaders get invited to champagne receptions. If you treat someone well they might take a more positive view of you. Ideally they will share that view with their friends.

PeerIndex wants to understand large scale influence and make that influence meaningful to you. Your PeerIndex profile allows you to explore you influence in topics and categories.

97% of you wanted more, and we delivered

In 2011 we launched PeerPerks and extended to you the special treatment brands once reserved for celebrities. Thousands of PeerIndex influencers have been rewarded by companies like Ford, Guinness, Samsung, Reebok and others. Our users love PeerPerks – 96% love receiving them and 97% say they want more.

You asked for it, we delivered. We have now teamed up with a range of cutting edge retailers and brands to offer you exclusive access to discounts and rewards across hundreds of products. These discounts which are tied to your PeerIndex and include:

• You could get your very own autonomous drone hexacoptor at a 35% discount
• You could buy T-Rex shaped cookie cutters for 15% less than non-influencers
• You could knock £25.80 off a Barbour wax leather holdall, taking it down to a mere £103
• You could receive a whopping 50% off at luxury athletics brand Chess London

How do I get my rewards?

When you login to PeerIndex today, you’ll be greeted by these rewards first of all. We will show you the ones that your influence gives you access to.

You can still access your profile by clicking on your avatar. It shows you your pattern of influence and your benchmark topics, as before. We are continuing our investment in the science of influence to keep providing you with amazing rewards and razor-sharp analysis of your social capital.

We hope you enjoy it, and look forward to your thoughts!

1. In 140 characters, tell us about you 

Founder of YHP, Marketer at Huddle, host of Flagons Den. Love Startups, entrepreneurship & Tottenham Hotspurs. Haven’t been to Space; yet!

2. Who is your favourite person to follow on twitter?

@davemcclure Shares great insights and articles on entrepreneurship and is not afraid to say what he thinks.

3. When has social media helped you achieve something great?

Social media has been huge in terms of growing my business not only from the content shared and traffic gained from social media but the contacts that have been in touch via Twitter or LinkedIn.

These connections have led to great collaborations with new partners that have helped grow business and also with getting interviews for the site.

4. What makes you unfollow or unlike somebody?

I will unfollow if you tweet too much, or if all you do is complain. I will follow if you regularly
tweet what I’m interested in, stuff which hasn’t been tweeted by everyone else in my timeline either e.g ‘that same TechCrunch article’ etc…, or support spurs! Simples.

5. If you could have a topic trend on twitter what would it be and why?

#DiscoverYHP (YourHiddenPotential) Having people share their stories of success from adversity in less than 140 characters!

6. Three links you recommend highly are:

http://andyswan.com/ – super smart entrepreneur and investor, has great, short, smart, simple posts on his blog
http://www.newsnow.co.uk – great news aggregator for any subject
http://tumblr.tastefullyoffensive.com/ – random funny bits from around the internet

And one for luck, check out http://yourhiddenpotential.co.uk for interviews with entrepreneurs. Be inspired and learn from those who have been there and done it.

7. Which perk would you like to see PeerIndex run next?

Tech or sports related items, or even better something that combines the two!

8. If you were an animal, what would you be?

An eagle, imagine the views! It would be great to be able to fly and see the world from so many different angles. And if you get bored of one place you can just fly somewhere else.

Interested in entrepreneurship or other topics that Rishi is influential in? Follow him on Twitter for updates.

1. In 140 characters, tell us about you.
Director of @Cybher, blogger, social media addict and believer in doing things right. Lover of cats, vintage kitsch and Morrissey.

2. Who is your favourite person to follow on twitter?
The Pulitzer Prize winning writer and human rights activist @NickKristof - he’s done amazing things in raising awareness of the suffering of others around the world. If you haven’t already read his book Half the Sky, you really should.

3. When has social media helped you achieve something great?
As social is my career, I would like to think that I achieve something great on a day to day basis! Without social I wouldn’t have launched Cybher™ (http://www.cybher.com), which was the most talked about UK blogger event last year and without the response it had across a range of social networks it wouldn’t be happening again this year.

Social media has also offered me some amazing life changing experiences, #Blogladesh, the groundbreaking campaign I did for Save the Children that clocked a 52 million reach worldwide, #ShareNiger for World Vision, reporting on the famine in Niger with a 35 million reach worldwide and £10 million raised to help ease the situation. That work resulted in me being chosen as one of the Women of the Year 2012, which was a pretty amazing achievement.

4. What makes you unfollow or unlike somebody?
Repeated tweets begging for votes or competition entries. I know there are more important things in life but it drives me nuts! I’ve just had a huge purge and unfollowed about 500 people that I never interact with. It felt great!
5. If you could have a topic trend on twitter what would it be and why?
Seeing your own hashtag trending on Twitter rocks. It’s an amazing buzz. I’ve been lucky enough to manage it a few times and I’ll be going after it again on June 1st with #Cybher

6. Three links you recommend highly are:
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/ : Nicholas Kristof’s site.

http://cybher.com/12/ : If you are a woman and a blogger looking to be inspired, it’s the place to be.

https://plus.google.com : I’m loving Google+, it’s where the cool kids are hanging!

7. Which perk would you like to see PeerIndex run next?
Something geeky and tech related…. or stationary, notebooks in particular. I can be easily won over with a quality notebook!

8. If you were an animal, what would you be?
A cat but not just any cat – a Cornish Rex like my beautiful Cheryl! (pic below)

Interested in cats or other topics that Sian To is influential in? Follow her on Twitter for updates.