From the school of totally pointless observations about social media, I bring you a collection of 16 Twitter avatars that always jump out at me on my Twitter stream.

I’m giving the list a fancy ass title of the 16 Most Influential Twitter Avatars in Ireland - because I am an expert in these matters.

Preface each of these descriptions with "he/she is a person on Twitter like anyone else. He/she can influence you as much as anyone else in life."

1. @icedcoffee‘s – It’s his eye, and he’s hypnotising me with it. I like hypnotism

2. @ann_donnelly – Reminds me of a great work of art. Very classy. I like classy.

3. @AllanCavanagh – Red is for danger – and this avatar stands out. He’s not actually dangerous though, but I do like a bit of danger tbh.

4. @cat_barett – I like toys – they’re cute.

5. @murrion – Everytime I see this I think "futuristic" – I like the future..

6. @Laughing_Lion – Ah, remember the good old days of the Irish pound. I liked those days.

7. @blacknight – It’s a horses head. I like horses, especially black ones.

8. @alpower – The camera is pointing towards me. I like cameras.

9. @donncha – Ah, look at the little fella – I like happy photos of dads and their babies.

10. @sineadcochrane – It’s lovely. I like lovely.

11. @michele_neylon – It’s a cartoon. I like cartoons.

12. @eolai – Same as before. And it’s even more cartoony. I like that.

13. @darraghdoyle – It’s a blue nose. I like comedy noses.

14. @trontsephore – It’s a man with his brain exposed. I like brains (not in a zombie way – but a scientific way)

15. @cufa – Looks mysterious. I like mystery.

16. @ManuelTheWaiter – He looks funny for a waiter. I like funny.

Word of advice to any business wishing to dip their toe into social media and Twitter in particular. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need to have the ear of "influencers" to accomplish your social media goals. Don’t use any sort of list and then blindly start following these people. You’ll be criticised for doing it – especially if you’re XYZ company and unknown to the person.

Really, the most important thing you need to ask yourself is – "Why do I want to tweet?". Think long and hard about that before ever signing up. Once you’ve got that clear in your head, start off with something like twit.ie and see what conversations are going on. See how the land lies. It’s not a race. Start picking out people who you might have something in common with or that you feel you could help in some way.

If you have a website or blog, advertise the fact you are on twitter and, if people follow you – acknowledge it by following back at the very least.

Observe, listen and contribute. Understand that everyone in the room has influence. Don’t automatically assume that the loudest person in the room can help get your message across or help you achieve your goals. A single tweet can make a difference and can spread farther and wider than you might have hoped. So don’t get obsessed by influence or followers or any other measure.

Ultimately though, the real hidden networks in Twitter are based on real life interactions. So you should have your Twitter address handy on your business card. You are more likely to get "heard" on Twitter if you’ve met people in person at some event or other, or if you know someone that knows someone that can give you a shout out as an introduction to their followers.

Have fun on Twitter though. You will go through periods of absolutely hating it and then loving it. It will both connect you and disconnect you at the same time. You will need to find a good balance yourself.