So here to help you get started, and entice you into the Twittersphere, is our pick of print’s finest. Dust off your posh frocks, prepare those tearful acceptance speeches and forget about the recent – and much less exciting – Brit Awards. This is where the real drama is. 

Introducing PrintWeek’s inaugural, incredibly prestigious Twit Awards.

Audience’s Choice Award

For most popular industry tweeter

Lover of letterforms? Tantalised by typestyles? With a following that rivals that of a certain Rupert Murdoch, I Love Typography (@ilovetypography) certainly ticks the popularity box, and, with more than 314,000 followers, lays claim to being the world’s most-popular fonts and typography blog. The blog, by British-born writer and graphic designer John Boardley, is a compelling homage to all things type-related. Boardley, now based in Vietnam after a stint in Japan, serves up a steady stream of fascinating snippets related to letterforms old and new – a piece on unusual 15th-century fonts being a recent example. And Boardley’s Codex magazine for typophiles is a hit in print, to boot, with the latest issue weighing in at a hefty 300 pages. 

I Love Typography @ilovetypography 

Interesting typographical facts: Aldus Manutius was the first to print a book on blue paper (1514). pic.twitter.com/LuFbWapCUF

Tribute Act Award 

For best parody

A tricky category this, especially since an obvious contender @TheFakeMrPerez, ceased sharing his pithy and possibly actionable tweets last summer. The actionable aspect is possibly why. There is, sadly, no printing equivalent to feline Twitter stars Larry the Cat (@Number10Cat) or Karl Lagerfeld’s kitty Choupette (@ChoupettesDiary), both of which have more than 35,000 followers. While we continue our search for celebrity print pets – Barry Hibbert’s goldfish, anyone? – there is always the welcome distraction of The DM Reporter (@DMReporter) offering its 41,000 followers an alternative, sardonic interpretation of the favourite topics of the print and online juggernaut that is the Daily Mail. 

The DM Reporter @DMReporter 

EXCLUSIVE: Fury as cost of sandbags is set to double for half term week.

The Gallagher Brothers Award

For grumpiest tweeter

There could only be one winner in this category, and it’s the printing industry boss who makes Victor Meldrew look like Michael McIntyre. Fast Graphics Nottingham boss Tony Bates (@babbling bates) even has ‘all views grumpy’ on his Twitter profile. That said, his grouchy exterior belies the actuality of this community-minded individual, who works with local charities and youth initiatives. Bates is a champion of all things Nottingham-related and his love for the city shines through in his tweets – even if he is sometimes berating the council or bemoaning bad service at a local hostelry. 

Tony Bates @babblingbates 

Just looked at my ten year Facebook film, which I will not be sharing as it’s extremely boring

The Group Award

For best corporate account

It can be a tricky task, being the ‘voice of your brand’ on Twitter. Some corporate accounts are the epitomy of blandness as a result, some merely a stream of puffery. And we won’t name the printco that somehow managed to spell the name of their own chief executive incorrectly in a triumphal tweet that went somewhat awry… Our winner in this category, Southend-on-Sea’s Solopress (@solopress), is not afraid of a shameless plug or two for the firm’s latest special offers, but combines this with a good mix of customer communication and entertaining print-related tidbits such as the one below.

Solopress.com @solopress 

The Street Of Ink: A Look Back At London’s Fleet Street http://bit.ly/1fbVHXY #London #FleetStreet pic.twitter.com/PPMSsuyxlB

Musty the Dog Award

For best anonymous tweeter

On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog, as per the famous New Yorker cartoon. Indeed, there was even a notion that Musty could carry off his own award, but a lack of recent Twitter action from the hound put paid to that. So, when it came to choosing our favourite anonymous tweeter, the decision came down to a power struggle between two Hulks – @PREPRESSHULK Hulk and his (or indeed her) presshall equivalent, @PRESSHULK. Both provide the unvarnished truth about life at the sharp end of production, including a catalogue of woes caused by clients or inter-departmental strife. @PREPRESSHULK emerged as the judge’s choice for providing a consistent and consistently entertaining feed. At the time of writing we couldn’t find a Finishing Hulk, so there’s an opportunity there for someone in the post-press field…

PREPRESS HULK @PREPRESSHULK 

DESIGNER SEND BACK COVER/FRONT COVER SPREAD PLUS INSIDE PAGES IN ONE FILE!! NUMBER BACK COVER PAGE 1!!

Critics’ Choice Award

For most inspirational tweeter

A hotly-contested category, this. PrintWeek’s timeline is brightened by a wide variety of print folk who post wonderful pictures of work in progress and completed projects. The letterpress community is particularly adept at this, so honourable mentions must go to Print for Love of Wood (@print_for_love), Typoretum (@typoretum), Blush Publishing (@blushpublishing), Meticulous Ink (@Meticulous_Ink) and The Print Project (@Gridula) among many excellent letterpress tweeters. For our overall winner, though, we’ve gone for someone who is evidently mad about materials, and whose Twitter feed constantly inspires and entertains with many nuggets of information about sustainable choices. Step forward Steve Lister (@StevenLister) the prize is yours.

Steve Lister @StevenLister 

Bio plastic coated paper for waterproofing of food packaging! Amazing alternative to traditional packaging! pic.twitter.com/MfgZ6neyd8

The Joe McElderry Could-do-better Award

For least-promising newcomer

We had such high hopes for St Ives chief executive Patrick Martell when he made his Twitter debut in December 2012. However, after a flurry of initial activity that provided a tantalising glimpse of his sense of humour, Martell (@pmartell63) has not embraced Twitter with the level of enthusiasm he has demonstrated for M&A activity – and that’s despite the PLC’s fervour for all things new-fangled and digital. His Twitter output tailed off last year, and stalled altogether in October. We just hope that the upcoming Ipex exhibition, of which he is president, will rekindle his tweeting mojo.

Patrick Martell @pmartell63

I see a lot of you have been waiting for my first tweet. Well here it is.

Best British Solo Artist

For best individual

How to choose from the thousands of print people sharing their thoughts and, sometimes, breakfast choices on Twitter? The answer: with difficulty. After a heated debate the judges awarded a ‘one to watch’ to Polestar’s Barry Hibbert (@BarryPolestar), who is currently busy tweeting pictures of JCBs in action on the site of Polestar’s new extension at Sheffield. But the overall award has headed west, literally, to Bath and Dave Broadway (@DaveBroadway), managing director at CFH Docmail. Broadway is a relative newbie to Twitter, and was poised to send his 100th tweet at time of going to press. His tweets encompass a good mix of the personal and the professional. Thus, we learn that the committed environmentalist and self-styled “postal revolutionary” has ordered a Tesla electric car and is partial to Strictly Come Dancing and BBC’s Question Time. And of course that he is a keen champion of all things Docmail and Velopost. 

Dave Broadway @DaveBroadway 

Chillin’ at Center Parcs - and we are still talking business!

British Breakthrough Act 

For consistent entertainment

We’ve developed a strange fascination with Clive Bramble, aka @clivethe printer, of Colchester Print Group. Not only has he managed to make the limited number of characters available in a Twitter handle into an earworm (“OK, sing along to the tune of Bob the Builder “Cliiiive the printer, can – he – print – it? Cliiiive the printer, yes – he – can”), his regular “Today I can be found in…” posts provide a window onto the whereabouts of the peripatetic print sales professional. No matter that he’s generally in either a) Norfolk or b) London, we’re entertained nonetheless.

Clive Bramble @Clivetheprinter

Busy morning on Norfolk’s main motorway pic.twitter.com/eNq0jt9hRq

Male Solo Artist 

For most opinionated tweeter

One of the joys of Twitter is its ability to provide the unvarnished, un-media managed thoughts of Very Important People. Rupert Murdoch, the big boss at News Corp, uses the medium with some relish. A typical Murdoch (@rupert murdoch) timeline involves plenty of forthright tweets about political goings-on around the globe, POTUS (that’s President of the United States, for the uninitiated), and regular approving missives about activities in his media empire (there’s not so much, unsurprisingly, about phone hacking or the latest headlines involving the ex-Mrs Murdoch and Tony Blair). Alongside the serious stuff and the corporate talk, the media mogul also displays a quirky side. The tweet below was sent after he made a jokey remark about Google’s Eric Schmidt. Sadly, PrintWeek’s excited tweet to Murdoch about the major inkjet installation at Newsprinters went unanswered. We’re sure the reply is imminent...

Rupert Murdoch @rupertmurdoch 

Oops! Better ignore last tweet.