One way to find interesting people on Twitter who share your interests is by using a URL shortening service. Most Web addresses are too long to fit into Twitter’s 140-character limit, so services like bit.ly have sprung up. When you shorten a URL through bit.ly, it creates a new link and tracks how often people click on it.

Plug a Web address into bit.ly, either through its home page or the bit.ly sidebar. Under “info,” you’ll see a “conversations” section, which shows you who else is tweeting about the Web page, and what they’re saying about it. Start clicking on the different Twitter accounts. Since the Web page struck a chord with them, chances are good you’ll find someone interesting to follow.

Related: How to contact an investigative reporter

Here’s an example: I read on Romenesko about a new survey showing the public mistrusts the media, but believes in its watchdog role. If you read this blog, you’ll know I found that relevant. So I tweeted it:

But I wasn’t the only one. Here’s the rest of the conversation on Twitter that was tracked by bit.ly:

I found some cool people this way and ended up following a bunch of them today.

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