The challenge: You have 160 characters to explain who you are and what you’re about on a networking site that takes its brevity seriously. Most of us play it safe; for example, I offer: “
Social media and content marketing specialist. Chicagoan.” But those who take the Twitter bio to the next level should be celebrated.
Here are 10 of the great ones among the accounts that I follow:
@badbanana
Ad man Tim Siedell has built a career out of being witty on Twitter, and his bio is characteristic of the wit you’ll find in his feed.
@Skittles
Skittles’ online voice and tone have become a source of inspiration for guys like me who write social media content for a living. Its Twitter bio is an example of the unique voice that helps make it so successful in the social space.
@Schindizzle
Funny Or Die has built a huge, enthusiastic audience by creating original video content that is consistently, well, funny. Its marketing manager is Greg Schindler (@Schindizzle), and his Twitter bio—not to mention handle—is awesome.
@akharlamova
If you follow many professional writers, you’ve probably seen some solid bios—like this one from @akharlamova. If you’ve ever written anything on a deadline, you can relate.
@nickvatterott
Nick Vatterott is one of the more original comedians making the rounds today, and his Twitter bio is a bit of a thinker. His Tumblr—
Oodles of Pun—is a great way to spend an hour or so. He’s so amusing that we’ll forgive him the extraneous apostrophe in “its” (and hope like hell that he fixes it before we go mad).
@Thingnamer
Tate Linden (@Thingnamer to his followers) has a simple bio that displays the pure power … of the ellipses.
@JonahHill
You can practically hear actor Jonah Hill’s voice when you read his bio (@JonahHill). As a writer, nailing a voice is hard, which is what makes this bio great.
@PizzaHut
Taking a look at the bios for the top three pizza delivery companies in the U.S.—
Domino’s,
Papa John’s and Pizza Hut—I have to say Pizza Hut takes the pie. The Hut is the only one that doesn’t play it straight in the bio, and it even encourages negative (and positive) feedback.
@sophclutterham
This is one of those Twitter accounts that I follow, but I can’t really remember why, when, or how I started following @sophclutterham. Her bio quote is fantastic.
@GameOverGreggy
Greg Miller has built a huge following as an editor for the video game news and review website IGN.com. His handle is fantastic (@GameOverGreggy), and his bio is spot-on for what you’d expect from a guy who plays video games for a living.