Who most effectively capitalized upon — or helped us to understand — social media in 2007? Below is my round-up, in no particular order. Naturally, I solicited the opinions of friends and colleagues to help build this list.

iJustine (AKA Justine Ezarik)

Through the use of a wireless webcam, Justine Ezarik began broadcasting her life 24/7 on Justin.tv in May. But it was Justine’s short video about her 300-page iPhone bill that skyrocketed her to mainstream fame and significantly impacted a global telecom’s billing process. iJustine is a new form of celebrity — one that is 100% born and evolved online.

Jeremiah Owyang

Few humans “get” social media like Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst of Social Computing at Forrester Research. With his deep level of insight and commitment to sharing knowledge, Jeremy is the guy all of us web culturists want to become. My friend (and social media guru) Greg Swan notes that Jeremy is great at “bridging the gap between social media and research data … and making himself accessible.” The accessible part couldn’t be more true — despite his schedule and work responsibilities, Jeremy is always just an e-mail (or tweet) away.

danah boyd

As a blogger, researcher and PhD student in the School of Information at Berkeley, danah boyd is our society’s foremost thinker on the subject of presentation of self — specifically in the context of social networks and emerging mediums. I saw danah speak twice at SxSW 2007 and was thoroughly impressed by the size and computing capacity of her brain, beneath those furry Ewok hats she likes to wear.

Ron Paul

Yes, somehow a 71-year-old caucasian male made the list. Seriously, no 2008 presidential campaign has shown a greater command of the power of social media than Ron Paul’s. He’s amassed (or, as some might argue, manipulated) quite a large presence inside online publics such as Digg, Technorati, YouTube, Facebook and Reddit — either he’s surrounded with very web-savvy campaign staff, or his libertarian views align more closely with the type of people who are actively engaged online. (It could be both.) Almost everywhere I turn within the social media landscape, Ron Paul’s name pops up. There is something to be said for name recognition like that.

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Tell me who I left out! Use the comments section to nominate your 2007 Social Media Superstars.