I Follow: Ali Nejad

Niki Noto (left) and Ali Nejad are the co-hosts of ESPNU Road Trip this season.

Editor’s note: I Follow is all about ESPN employees on Twitter: what they tweet, whom they follow and how you can interact socially with anyone and everyone.

Oliver “Ali” Nejad, former professional poker player and commentator, has joined ESPNU Road Trip with returning co-host Niki Noto (@NikiNoto). The duo will travel coast-to-coast exploring campuses and sharing school traditions of college football every Tuesday, starting tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET. First stop? Dallas.

Front Row caught up with Ali on the job with NIki recently to get the inside scoop on his popularity in the Twitterverse and where he plans to take his followers this season.

Handle: @Ali_Nejad

Followers: 924,568
Following: 402
(as of 09/03/2012)

When did you join Twitter?
I joined in March of 2009 along with my co-hosts from the PokerRoad radio podcast I was doing at the time.

How did you get more than 900,000 followers?
I was an early adopter and suggested user on Twitter, not to mention my NBC show Poker After Dark airs in many countries worldwide.

Who are your favorite Twitter accounts to follow?
@ESPNUroadtrip and @NikiNoto, of course.

What are your favorite Twitter interaction stories?
I once talked about doing a cereal taste test on my podcast, so a cereal company PR rep tweeted me for my address, and then sent my manager two bags of Blueberry Muffin Tops cereal for my consideration. I forgot to tell my manager to expect it, and the phone call he made to tell me I had gotten cereal in the mail was pretty funny. It was actually pretty tasty though.

How do you maintain a Twitter/life balance?
I live my life, and then tweet the coolest parts. I don’t get too caught up in following other people’s streams, but I do check and DM respond to most of my @ replies.

What should people know about your Twitter identity?
I don’t have a singular focus. I’ll talk about sports, cars, food, travel, tech, video games, poker. I try to keep it light.

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