I recently shifted my interest not totally but more expanding my horizons from Design to SEO and Social Media.
As an avid Twitter user I searched for some interesting people to follow and listen to concerning these subjects, what I found that many people have keywords in their @username but never tweet a single thing about SEO
I find that I follow folks that follow ones that I know. . . Only a portion of tweets are actually about business but I have developed a community that is very knowledgeable about the topics that interest me and are available with answers to my questions. It takes time but very effective for me.
@problogger @HubSpot podcasting internet gadgets @AndreaKalli facebook @marismith Those are a few that I've found but in general I agree with you. I wish more people would read the twitips blog that Darren Rowse (problogger) does that talks about doing direct messaging when it only deals with one person and most followers could care less! http://www.twitip.com/ great tips.. new one today about free twitter graphics for your site and blog