A few days ago, I was reading here about how Kanye West has started using Twitter so that he can connect with his fans directly (or, in his words “raw”), without having to go through his manager, publicists, record company etc. Many celebrities have been doing this for some time in order to stay in touch with fans but this change in the way we communicate is by no means restricted to pop stars, professional athletes and Hollywood actors.
Indeed, one of the greatest things that has happened in recent years in TEFL (and in many other fields, I’m sure) is that some of the academics, experts, authors that we used to only be able to read or read about in methodology books (and occasionally see at conferences and workshops if we were lucky) are actively tweeting and blogging and interacting directly with their readers. The Teacher Trainer Center (where I work) reading list includes books by Scott Thornbury, Jeremy Harmer and Jim Scrivener – they are all on Twitter, they all publish blog posts, and they participate in on-line discussions. Thornbury’s blog, which is an extension of his 2006 book An A to Z of ELT, in particular, is always interesting and always generates a lot of discussion from other ELT professionals. Take a look at this post on phrasal verbs, for example.
In addition to these 3 authors, there are countless other teaching professionals worth reading on the web – here are just a few that you might find of interest:
Coursebook writer / teacher Jason Renshaw’s blog
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day
Nik’s Learning Technology Blog
English. Teacher. Mexico. 
I agree, Mark. This is an amazing “flattening” of our world. And honestly, I think it must be mutually beneficial for all invovled, though I’m sure the folks you mentioned might feel a bit “in demand” in a new way.
The other interesting effect is that it’s a platform for those that might not be well-known or ‘in’ the publishing circuit to share their expertise and receive immediate feedback. Exciting times !
Thanks for your comment.
Definitely exciting times. Some of the best things that I’ve read lately have come from “unpublished” writers – I’ve definitely learned more about teaching “unplugged” from bloggers, rather authors.
I also really like the way that the more established writers tackle comments on their blog posts too.