With social media being one of the most widely-used tools today, it's no wonder that small businesses, from simple e-commerce sites, to brick and mortar stores are all eager to get a piece. Social networks can be great tools, not just in terms of marketing, but for customer service and research purposes as well. Twitter in particular, is very appealing because of its ability to deliver simple and short messages to users. Most people are extremely busy and some of them (let's face it) have short attention spans because of all the other things that they have to deal with. Keeping messages under 140 characters is an effective way to communicate to users, and this is one of the reasons why Twitter's system works. However, with 200 million registered users and over 350 BILLION tweets delivered each day, it's easy to get lost in all the mindless chatter and spam. The good news is, there are numerous things that you can do to prevent this. Creating lists and using tools such as Twellow and Followerwonk are just some of the steps that you can take to ensure that the tweets that enter your stream are relevant. Also keep in mind that following the right people is an important step to keeping your Twitter account lean. It you're a small business, it's best to follow accounts that you can learn from. With that said, check out our list of top five Twitter accounts that we think would add a lot of value to your Twitter stream. If you must follow five accounts today, let them be the following: 1. @OPENForum - The Official American Express OPEN Forum Twitter account offers a lot of great advice for small businesses. However, the best thing about @OPENForum is that it tweets insights from other small business owners, creating a hub for gathering information and networking. 2. @BeckyMcCray - Becky McCray is a must-follow for businesses located in rural areas. She writes about entrepreneurship and rural issues, and following her tweets will make you realize that small town = BIG opportunity. Additionally, she shows how businesses in rural areas can utilize the Internet and social media. Being a small town entrepreneur herself, she writes, in her own words that, "small town entrepreneurs have a lot to teach other businesses." 3. @IncMagazine - Their profile description says it all. Inc. is "The magazine for entrepreneurs." Follow this account to get your daily dose of information and inspiration. IncMagazine consistently publishes great articles about running a business, dealing with finance, making the most out of technology, and a lot more. 4. @smallbiztrends - Anita Campbell's Twitter account is rich in quick tips and news bits that every small business owner can use. Smallbiztrends is a community with over 250,000 small business owners, all dedicated to help fellow entrepreneurs thrive. 5. @ducttape - Created by award-winning marketing consultant John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing offers a lot of products that small business owners can use to help put their business out there. More importantly though, Jantsch tweets free advice on how to reach and engage your target audience.