Everybody wants to be recognized and accepted. Whether it’s the baby being born who wants attention from Mom, the pimply 15 year-old hoping girls will finally start noticing him, or the mom blogger just praying for a reference from Dooce . The fact is we’re human. And being human, means that at some level you care what other people think of you (spare me the “I don’t care what other people think” mantra – just because you don’t let it run your life doesn’t mean you don’t care – at some level)

This is no more apparent than on Twitter. The Twitter-verse is high school all over again – now things matter even less than in high school, but the feelings of wanting to be recognized and accepted are still the same.  We like to be followed. To be retweeted, replied to, interacted with. Especially with people who are ostensibly cooler on Twitter than we are.  Ask yourself how cool you feel when some “twitter big shot” RTs what you posted? It’s just true. It was the same in high school when the cool kids let you each lunch with them. One day, you’re big time, the next you’re banished to the benches by the baseball field.

The truth is that Twitter is more like high school than you think - there are Twitter archetypes playing the same high school roles in all our lives. We do after all set-up our own accounts and our own contexts. And life does have a way of repeating itself.

So here’s my account rundown. Note that I’m not friends with all of these people (just like in high school!) but hey what the hell…if one of them wanted to have me at their lunch table...

Captain of Football Team - @msuster – I’ve never met Mark’s wife or kids, but I bet they’re incredibly good looking, smart and funny. That’s what you expect from Captain Mark. Suster’s got it together and came from relative obscurity to make a huge name for himself in VC – kind of like the JV quarterback brought up in a time of crisis who leads the team to the State Championship. People want Mark to like them and they want to be at the same parties (and who wouldn’t? his recognition can set your Twitter and blog feed wild, plus he’s a terrific signal caller).

Captain of Basketball Team - @phineasb – Any guy who calls himself a “Sneakerhead VC” is a lock for this. With a % of tweets mentioning something tangentially related to basketball exceeding 25%, Phin is the guy you want running your deal and your picket fence. Let’s face it the Captain of the basketball team always got a lot of action and you gotta respect that. Plus he’s the captain of a Team coached by a different Coach K – that would be Josh K.

Student Body President - @bfeld – He’s a nerd disguised as a popular kid. You don’t get to be student body president unless you’ve got your shit together. He’s a type-A on so many levels and I’m pretty sure that like Student Body Presidents of yesteryear, he’s got a whole team of acolytes helping him make it happen. It’s the Techstars tribe and they’re not messing around.

Editor of the Paper - @arrington – He’ll probably rip me if I’m not nice here, but that’s what you’d expect from the Editor of the paper. His story is more important than yours and it will always be.  Grades never really mattered and HS conventions were for other people. When you’re running the paper, you make the rules. And if you don’t like it you can f$%k off cause that’s how he rolls.

Lead Singer of Faux Rock Band - @fredwilson – Is it just the weekly Tweets about Last.fm? Or the fact that Fred’s a veritable rock star in the Twitter universe. Not only is he humble and articulate, when he wants to scream at the top of his lungs people listen. You want to move the needle or a gymnasium hall full of 16 yrs olds and I’d bet on Fred. Did I mention the AVC groupies? They’re serious and Fred keeps ‘em asking for more at the end of each show. The fact he engages Kid Mercury regularly tells you a lot about Fred. He’s not just a pretty face with a microphone, he’s a songwriter and a poet. Tip your bartenders and your waitresses.

Math Whiz - @cdixon – Sometimes I get the feeling Chris Dixon’s just smarter than the rest of us. That’s probably because he uses real numbers and defensible stats when he speaks. And the fact that he gets into it with everybody he can on Twitter or the blog is reminiscent of the guy in Math class who just knows he’s right, you’re wrong, and at some point you’ll figure it out – even if he has to tutor you for another hour.

Too Cool for School – Anybody with a protected twitter account. Really? You'll learn.

Homecoming King - @mashable @mattmireles – it’s a tie. Not only are they both incredibly good looking, but people actually care what they think. Girls and guys swoon. I’m pretty sure Matt was the Prom King and he wore sneakers and a volunteer fireman cap. Why? Cause he can.

The Geek Everybody loves - @scobleizer – cameras, technology, Fast Company in his backpocket. RS wears his geekiness on his sleeve and not only does everybody respect it, they actually relish the chance to hang out with him. Somebody once said the “geeks shall inherit the earth.” They were talking about Robert Scoble. He’s won. You’ve lost. He’s got the followers and sycophants to prove it.

Class Clown - @wilshipley – everytime I check Twitter in the AM (from the east coast) I have to ask myself “has Will Shipley been drinking again?” I wish I knew this guy, ‘cause I bet he’s hilarious in person. Either way, only the class clown can get away with live tweeting the bachelorette. It’s endearing.

Who rules your Twitterverse? Who am I missing? What have I got wrong?