The 49ers kick off their first practice of the 2012 season today, which means news will actually start to flow out. Niners Nation will be here to help break down all the details, but seeing as we don't have people right on hand at training camp, Twitter is where you'll see a lot of the breaking news and first observations.
Although some folks view Twitter as the inane compilation of random thoughts, it has really become the go-to source for news. Media sites, blogs and so forth are able to provide a lot more detail in posts and articles, but the news first hits on Twitter. When rumors first spread that an NFL team has signed a draft pick, I can almost guarantee you the news is first revealed by a tweet.
With that in mind, I wanted to start putting together a compilation of the twitter accounts worth tracking. If you don't want to join Twitter, I will also include some Niners Nation lists you can bookmark. I really do think there is value in joining Twitter, but it's your own choice.
If you do decide to check out twitter, @NinersNation is of course your first stop. While I occasionally mix in some non-49ers chatter, I try and stick mostly to the 49ers. I'll retweet 49ers details and pertinent NFL information. I like to think of it as a one-stop shop for 49ers and important NFL news.
But of course, there are a variety of other resources. This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list (particularly the national media), but I wanted to at least provide a starting point. Please feel free to point out the valuable twitter accounts you follow. Even if it's not 49ers-specific, but provides valuable information, let us know.
49ers Media
These are the media folks with in-practice updates. They tweet about what they see in practice, tweet about press conferences, and provide links to their articles about practice. If you don't join Twitter, bookmark the NN 49ers media list:
Matt Maiocco - @MaioccoCSN
Matt Barrows - @mattbarrows
Cam Inman - @CamInman
Eric Branch - @Eric_Branch
Mindi Bach - @MBachCSN
Christian Gin - @CGin49ers
Mike Sando - @espn_nfcwest
49ers Front Office
Several members of the 49ers front office are on Twitter. They are rolled into the 49ers media list linked above. They don't provide as much detail as the beat reporters, but you'll often get interesting insights from them.
49ers Official Feed - @49ers
Taylor Price (Digital Media Coordinator) - @TaylorPrice49
Bob Lange (PR Director) - @49ersPR
Jed York (owner/CEO) - @JedYork - occasionally runs contest via Twitter for tickets
Dan Beckler (PR Coordinator) - @DanBeckler
Steve Weakland (Corporate Comm. Director) - @SteveWeakland - he provides stadium updates, among other things
Gideon Yu (Team President) - @GideonYu
Jerry Walker (team archivist) - @JerryWalker49er - accumulating old memorabilia for the 49ers Hall of Fame in ne stadium
49ers Players
The 49ers players won't get into a ton of detail about practice, but there are some fun follows among the 49ers players. I've set up a list of 49ers players to make things a bit easier. I've got 46 players in the list. If you think I'm missing anybody, let me know.
NN Front Page Writers
James Brady - @JamesBradySBN
Dylan DeSimone - @DeSimone80
Tre9er - @tre9er
These are a few accounts I follow at @NinersNation that provide some solid 49ers and NFL discussion. I'm open to more suggestions.
Danny Tuccitto - @fo_dtuccitto
Samuel Lam (former 49ers Examiner, now at NFL Network) - @SamuelYLam
Grant M P - @grantmp1
Miguel Evangelista - @yougomango
NFL Media
This is a far from all-inclusive list of national media, but I thought I'd highlight a few. You can view the full list as well. I need to clean this up a bit and get some more folks mixed into the National Media list.
Pro Football Talk - @profootballtalk
Around The League - @NFL_ATL
Adam Schefter - @AdamSchefter
Aaron Wilson - @RavensInsider - Ravens writer, but does a lot of great national coverage
Jason LaCanfora - @JasonLaCanfora
Aaron Schatz - @FO_ASchatz
Andrew Brandt - @adbrandt - great on business of sports
Adam Caplan - @caplannfl
Albert Breer - @albertbreer