I’ll admit that there is a lot of stuff out there in terms of social media.  Some of it’s good and some of it’s bad.  Here are some of the folks I’ve found who actually understand social media and its application.

Chris Brogan – Chris advises businesses, organizations and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships. He builds great content and is one of my must-read feeds every morning.  It’s almost like I think of a question about social media, it’s then transmitted wirelessly to his brain and posted to his blog the next day.  He’s always been very responsive and helpful in answering any and every question I had.  For me, Chris is better than those little fried onion crisps that your mom used to put on green bean casserole. What I want a Social Media Expert to Know, His best advice on social media and 50 ideas on using twitter for business are some of my favorite posts.

Dosh Dosh – Maki offers internet marketing, blogging tips and social media strategies for entrepreneurs, marketers and small business owners. The key to effective viral marketing is emotional engagement, his three-part strategy on developing tactical knowledge on social media websites and this post on relevance and distribution; 2 essential factors in social media marketing made my day.

Darren Rowse - Problogger is probably best known for his tips on helping you make money from your blog, but Darren also has a great grasp on social media.  Some of my favorite articles are Blogging Tips for Beginners, 21 Tips to Pitching Bloggers and 5 Lesson Learned Launching your Next Venture Using Social Media.

Jeremiah Owyang – Jeremiah is a web strategist and analyst at Forrester Research.  He discusses the tools that allow businesses to connect with their customers. If I had a nickle for every amazing web post he’s written, I’d be a rich man.  Explaining the social graph to executives and his list of web marketing must be tagged and passed on.

Beth Kanter - I know a lot of my readers come from non-profit organizations. Beth specializes in training non-profits and individuals in effective use of social media.  It doesn’t get much better than Beth in the non-profit space. Check out Open Thread: How does my non-profit organization get started with social media! What should we do first?, How to Develop a Social Media Plan in 5 Easy Steps or her collection of Social Media How-to Screencasts.

Memphis Social Media Experts

* Dave Barger - Dave puts on Social Media Breakfast Memphis, runs LunaWeb and has been instrumental in Startup Weekend and BarCamp Memphis.  He’s always on the cutting edge and looking for new ways to use social media in business.
* Daniel Pritchett – I met Daniel at Social Media Breakfast and am always interested in what he has to say on his Sharing at Work blog.  How Twitter is affecting major brands online and Improving participation by simplifying sharing are 2 posts I really enjoyed.

Did I leave someone important off this list?  Let me know in the comments.

Cut the Clutter: 7 Social Media Experts to Follow is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!