Who I Am Following on Twitter and Why

I realized in class that I had neglected to make a post about my following list on Twitter, and that I still have more people and organizations to add. I thought I must make this kind of post.

Currently I am following 20 accounts.

1. NYTimesThomasFriedman -Thomas L. Friedman
A New York Times columnist and three time Pulitzer prize winning author, Thomas Friedman
specializes in foreign correspondence, especially regarding the Middle East. My father read his
work extensively and once loaned me his book From Beirut to Jerusalem, the story of his time
as a journalist in both cities in the 90s. I subscribe to him because he is so reputable and
because I was interested in his work of foreign correspondence. I am not so ambitious, but
I would like to know once in a while of what he might inform me.

2. RSF_RWB - Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières)
An NGO dedicated to preserving freedom of the press by reporting on journalists who have
been threatened, imprisoned, or even killed because of their work in countries all over the
world. I was told to subscribe to this organization because of my internship for Sampsonia
Way, an online magazine which exists for the same purpose (www.sampsoniaway.org).

3. Ramy Raoof
Apparently he's the editor for the Egyptian Blog for Human Rights, and as such tweets about
human rights violations, particularly regarding the Middle East, and other related topics.
Again, I was told to subscribe to him by of my internship.

4. PittWriters
A Twitter account made for the writers and writing programs from the University of
Pittsburgh, which I attend, and which I was told to subscribe to by my English class.

5. lolrebear - Reba
Former classmate, current housemate, distant friend.

6. Colson Whitehead
Nonfiction author who wrote an article that my English class read. I liked the article very
much and he's amusing to follow anyway.

7. NDTV - New Delhi Television Limited
I have a few Indian friends, and I sometimes think I should hear the Indian news.
I really have not paid any attention at all, but I still keep the subscriptions nearby..

8. The Daily Beast
A news reporting organization that seems determined to post on what's hot, interesting, and
amusing. I found this source through my professor's account and have since enjoyed my
subscription to it.

9. deviantArt
An online community of professional and amateur artists posting their work. I have an
account there too, although to my discredit I haven't posted anything in a long while.

10. dailyzen
Basically, I wanted to subscribe to pithy quotes on which to "meditate." Zen Buddhism
is interesting, but I'm not sure how many actual monastic Zen Buddhists have actual Twitter
accounts.

11. lacuna_coil
Lacuna Coil is one my favorite metal bands.


12. cnnbrk - CNN Breaking News
CNN is my first go-to news source. Funny story: Although I was encouraged to keep up with
the news as a good habit, particularly for writing, I made CNN.com my homepage because
a personal contact made me feel guilty. He works as a pizza delivery driver who listens to
NPR on the radio, and then he used to lecture me for not keeping up with the media.
I'll show him!

13. NatGeo - National Geographic Society
The famous non-profit educational institution that publishes primarily on science and world
cultures. Honestly, I haven't been someone who loyally reads the magazine, but my father
had a subscription to it for as long as I remember, so I was used to flipping through it,
at least, and found it fascinating.

14. GPLC - Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council
A non-profit agency for adult and young-adult education in Pittsburgh. Since March 2011,
I have been volunteering as a tutor of English as a second language. Unfortunately, I don't
work as hard as I should, and I am not involved with the GPLC community, but I should
keep trying.

15. AdeliaMohan
Classmate. I don't know her very well, but she's cool.

16. pen_int - International PEN
An international association of writers (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists, originally) that aims
to promote literature, freedom of expression, and Wikipedia says that it's the world's oldest
human rights organization and literary organization, which I might believe to an extent.
At any rate, I learned of this organization because of my internship at Sampsonia Way,
speaking of which -

17. Sampsonia_Way
An online magazine dedicated to the protection and promotion of persecuted writers around
the world, sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, an exiled writer-residency program.
I am an intern for the magazine, and I'm very impressed with their work and aims, but I
need to improve very much in my tasks there.

18. DAVIDDRAMAN
Lead singer and frontman of Disturbed, another favorite metal band.

19. miss_batgirl - Randi Alu
Classmate. I don't know her very well, but she's cool.

20. williams_page
My current English Writing professor!