Social Media has grown from a pleasant little surfing wave to a full-blown Tsunami. It doesn’t take a lot of brains to figure that out, and now just about everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. It is no longer unusual to hear Twitter mentioned on national news broadcasts… in fact, it’s unusual NOT to hear Twitter mentioned by just about every major news outlet and their anchors. Celebrities are hitting Twitter as well, some for the opportunity to raise awareness of legitimate causes and charities, and others to furthur their own career. The power of Social Media is undeniable. The problem for many people, especially new users, lies in the fact that you can’t just sign up and immediately see where the best activity is. Sure, you can follow a celeb, but you have no idea of who their followers are, what they’re about, and your chances of actually being mutually recognized is virtually nil.

The other primary problem is that new users are invariably bombarded by “Life coaches”, “SEO Gurus”, and “Wealth builders” users. The last thing you want is a bunch of self-serving messages from people looking to use Twitter as a means of building a client base. These bottom feeders auto-add new users.

On Digg, it was fairly easy to see who had the inside line on things. Digg made it easy to see who the top users were. All you had to do was follow the front page and see whose submissions went popular on a regular basis. You could build a decent following fairly quickly.

So, how can you jump right into the middle of things, optimize the time you have for social media, and quickly meet the cream of the crop people on Twitter?

Let me save you the time and effort by listing a few of the Good People, those who have great followings and who follow virtually everyone in return, who will engage you, help you bring your own voice into things, and quickly build your own base.

Zaibatsu: Reg Saddler - Reg has ALWAYS been one of those people that’s not only been active in Social Media, but one of the SHAPERS of social media. You might recognize his name from Digg… for years he was among the top three users on Digg, and was instrumental in taking Digg from its inception to a powerhouse. He knows Social Media,and it would be easy to say he IS Social Media. But above and beyond all this is the fact that he’s a genuinely nice guy who takes the time to be involved with his followers.

Mr. Gadget: Arnold Aranez - Loves gadgets (obviously) and is also very friendly and accommodating of new users. You’ll see some interesting tech news from him. Another genuinely nice guy.

MSaleem: Muhammed Saleem - One of the most intelligent, in-the-know people you’ll ever meet. Listen to this guy on TheDrillDown sometime and you’ll see what I mean.

MrsKutcher - Demi Moore - One celeb that uses Twitter to bring public awareness on charities and causes. She actually replies to many people.

CollectiveSoul - Collective Soul - What? A big name band that actually follows you back, posts relevant news and humorous links, AND engages with people??? Yep.

Retweetradar - A service (person?) who tracks and updates the top retweeted tweeters and subjects. Invaluable for keeping a pulse on who and what is hot on Twitter.

These are just a FEW of the good people on Twitter… there are countless more. But if you want to get up and running and straight into the mix on Twitter, following these suggestions will get you in the groove.