It may seem a trivial place to start, but choosing who you follow is one of the most important parts of the Twitter experience.

You’re a journalist, and you’re probably interested in story tips. Find your competitors and follow them. Find the major news outlets you’re interested in. Check Twellow for other journalists (or those with a specific profession if you have a niche beat) and browse the map at Twellowhood to see the top Tweeters in your hometown or city of interest.

It’s critical you choose wisely. This will be your wire service, your tip service, that is available at any time of day with a simple refresh. If your stream becomes cluttered, unless you’re using a tool like Tweetdeck to sort through it (which we’ll get to later), it’s practically useless, becoming more of a random free-for-all.

All that being said, there’s a twist. The best tweets you’ll ever find often come from people you don’t follow.

Sites like Twitterfall and search.twitter.com allow for searching tweets by keyword or locale. Local reporters and editors especially should keep an eye on what people in their area are saying. National and international journalists should be ready to pop in a specific location when major news breaks, and watch the tweets from that place trickle in.

You can’t follow everyone. The most compelling tweets are often found in this way, even though your very own Twitter stream is a great place to start.