December 20, 2009 79 Comments

I Was Wrong About Twitter Lists

I originally felt Twitter lists would be really harmful, that people would be upset by not showing up on certain lists. I find that I’m now using five private lists and growing. I have two public lists, too. So far, the world hasn’t ended. And, lists have really helped me tidy up my “views” of Twitter, which is important if you’re following 90,000 folks.

I am wrong from time to time. This time was one of them.

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  • http://narominded.blogspot.com Genaro

    It's always good to recognize mistakes, and to do it quickly.

  • http://narominded.blogspot.com Genaro

    It's always good to recognize mistakes, and to do it quickly.

  • http://regulargeek.com/ robdiana

    Private lists are a great way to manage your subscriptions. I would think if you are following tens of thousands of people this would almost be a requirement.

  • http://twitter.com/clementyeung Clement Robert Yeung

    Nice to know Chris. I'm using lists too, but not in private mode. I can understand why that is absolutely necessary… and I think I'll be implementing it soon, too.

    I agree with you that it's absolutely increased productivity on Twitter. I'm glad that groups/lists were introduced at the foundational level, as just a while ago I thought that groups such as the ones that Tweetdeck and other applications offered were going to be the only way of breaking up the feed.

  • http://www.ribeezie.com/ Ricardo Bueno

    I don't use lists. Not because I think they're bad or anything… I only follow about 1,000 folks or so. That's clearly nowhere near 90,000 (just sayin'), so it's easier to manage ya know? At least for me anyway.

    Where I do use lists a lot however is on Facebook! I place friends, colleague, classmates, etc. into all kinds of lists. It helps me filter through and check in on people when I want to in an easier fashion. (As I write this, I guess I can see it having the same effect on Twitter).

  • http://www.soultravelers3.com soultravelers3

    Well, none of us knew exactly how it would evolve, did we? I found listening to the various thoughts about it as they began, including yours, quite interesting.

    I have found the lists VERY helpful for listening and communicating better with my followers who are quite diverse. It's also been enlightening by who puts us on their list and what they call it. Feedback from our Twitter universe!

    I love my one private list, but will look into the idea of trying several different private ones!

  • http://www.justinparks.com Justin Parks

    The Twitter lists definitely help break it all down, although admittedly, I havent got myself in gear to sort them out either, but will do soon.

    In regards offending folks who are not on a list, you worry to much. Anyone getting on their high horse because you haven't included them in a twitter list needs a slap on the head and a reality check.

    90k followers is no small amount and if it takes 10 seconds to add someone to a list it would effectively take you:

    10 x 90000= 900000 seconds
    900000 / 60 = 1500 minutes / 60= 25 hours
    (I hope those add up, had a long and rather sleepless night)

    That is 25 hours of constant list making (I'm being generous on the 10 seconds here, some people will take longer to list, you have to create the list, find the name, reboot the computer, answer the phone, make a cuppa, blagh blagh etc. etc.)

    I an only imagine the amount of complaining that will be done if someone is “on the wrong list”… (ah the joys of being popular Chris :P)

    Some folks take this far to personally.

  • detaildevils

    I have lists, lots of them; some public; some private. I've also renamed some lists, moved people from one list to another and deleted lists that don't attact any followers. I'm using my lists in tweetdeck and love it. I can have the best people tweeters runnning my word searches.

    Have to say that lists work very well for me. Love also some of the names of lists that I'm listed on.

  • http://freenuts.com Young

    Keep some lists private is fine, I have one private and one public, but I am just thinking to make a new public list for Mashable Open Web Awards, and I think no one will be unhappy for it. :-)

  • http://josephrooks.com Joseph Rooks

    Haven't dug into Twitter lists much yet, but maybe it will help me consume some of the high-volume twitter accounts while keeping my eyes on the ones I want to follow all day.

    Thank you, I love it when the big guys admit their mistakes, even dedicating a whole blog post to saying they're wrong instead of tossing it in with something else…

    Not because I love watching you or anyone else be wrong, but because you set an awesome example for how okay it is to be wrong and admit to it.

  • http://www.beginnerblogger.com/ Sarge

    I understood where you were coming from before about feeling excluded from lists and felt the same way.

    I have a ton of private lists which make my twitter account so much easier to maintain if you follow many people.

    Also you can tell right away if someone new has added you to twitter has valuable things to say based on the amount of lists other people have added them onto.

    Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    <if you’re following 90,000 folk

    How do you, or anyone, follow 90k?

    Do you actually read, even scan, 90+k tweets? How is this possible?

  • TomRoyce

    I have a hard time tracking all my followers in Tweetdeck. It is more a place I look at for inspiration. But my list, started as a group, is the people I look at every tweet possible. They are my inspiration and community.

  • http://www.osvaldas.info/ Osvaldas

    Hehe, making mistakes is a human nature.

  • nunaina

    I'm on your list?, what? you're in one of mine!

  • natfinn

    it happens.

    lists can be pure gold, given that the ability to cross-section twitter's data is still in its infancy

  • http://subject2.com Nick Johnson

    So very timely Chris! I just woke up this morning and a light bulb went off, I finally get the Twitter list 'thing' I've been spending all morning creating and adding to my lists, making them private so I, like you said can make it easier to not miss a tweet by certain people.

  • http://www.heartchoices.com/ Debbie

    Chris, I just started to use the twitter lists and I like them. It's taken a bit of getting used to and I've not categorized the many people I follow but I've started.

  • Curvatude

    i think twitter lists is a great way to bring a sense of focus. the very first thing i did with the list feature was make a private list. i am not sure if i will have any lists that are not private unless they are general categories like PR, etc.

  • http://ariherzog.com Ari Herzog

    Huh? How is the number of people you follow by stream relevant to who you follow by list? One does not necessitate the other, for the majority of those in my lists I don't follow by stream.

  • http://www.erikwennerstrom.com Erik Wennerstrom

    I was skeptical of Twitter lists as well but I have found them extremely useful. My view changed when the Twitter clients I use starting supporting lists which is great if you do not always use the same computer. I no longer have to worry about creating groups on multiple computers and trying to keep them in sync.

  • http://twitter.com/loisgeller Lois Karen Geller

    I like lists in general. I have spent my career in direct marketing and we work on the ability to “get the right offer in the right hands at the right time”. List always represent 40% os the success of any direct mail, or catalog program.

    I'm not sure what to do about my Twitter lists. I'm making them to keep organized, but I don't use them for anything, unless Twitter comes up with an application where I can send meesages directly to my: social media friends, tech buddies, inspirational pals, and dry cleaners (don't ask!).

    I have been using other people's list to find new people that I can follow and learn from too. So, this morning I peeked at @chrisbrogan and @alferretti lists to see who sounds interesting.

    The value of the lists will evolve over time the way Twitter has for all of us. Right now I'm on a learning curve, probably way behind most of you.

  • ahockley

    I've found it very interesting to see which lists others have included me… gives me a good perspective of how I'm seen by my followers.

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  • williamroth

    Lists are a good way to keep yourslef organized but they are also a great way to see how your brand is percieved on twitter. What kinds of lists are you in? Looking at lists this way has helped me figure out what I am doing right and what I need to work on if I am going for certain types of followers. Am I in social media lists? Or, am I just in lists about climbing and outdoorsy people. Lately, the latter. Better step up my social media tweets.

  • http://twitter.com/topleftdesign Keren Lerner

    Yep so far I have made 2 private lists to keep an eye on clients I have trained and it's really useful. Will work on some very useful public lists too – soon!

  • David Siteman Garland

    Lists are fantastic for a few reasons:

    1. Making this increasingly busy social media world smaller and more organizable.
    2. Allowing you to form better connections with folks by putting them on lists.
    3. Self-actualization as to what you are known for based on the lists you are put on.
    4. A great system so far for exposing people that try to game the friends system. If you have 30,000 friends but are on 2 lists, it can be a social proofing sign that maybe you are doing something a tiny bit wrong :)

  • http://anastasiaashman.wordpress.com/ Thandelike

    My own view and use of lists has also changed. I find that while I'm slowly adding to my public lists (globalists-culturati, forward thinkers, philosopher-healers, TEDsters), I'm much more meaningfully creating and adding to my own private lists. Those are now places where I collect Twitter accounts associated with different lines of research, upcoming projects, specific industries, and a variety of groups of people whose tweets I want to be able to tap into but I cannot handle in my main stream. Sometimes I include an account in a private list simply because I cannot handle that feed in my stream: an excessive use of foreign languages, or song lyrics, for instance. My main feed remains a diverse one, but also a manageable one.

  • http://twitbook.site11.com/ Iain Reid

    I used to think they would not help. But more recenly I have found them very useful.

  • http://empoprise-bi.blogspot.com/ John E. Bredehoft (Empoprises)

    As a FriendFeed Ffanatic, I haven't really moved to using Twitter for communication, but even I have found that the lists offer a helpful “slice” of my Twitter activity – and I only follow a little over 1,000 people and bots.

  • http://www.twitter.com/daveraffaele DaveRaffaele

    Agreed..lists are extremely helpful. In fact, it almost does away with the need to follow anyone doesn't it? Pick a handful, say 200, people to follow in your mainstream, and then add everyone one else to a list. Keeps your everyday twitter usage much more manageable, enjoyable, and educational without losing contact with all of the other folks you used to follow. In addition, people won't get “mad” when you stop following them because they will show up in your list instead. In the end all is good and everyone if happy. The power of the follow if coming back.

  • http://wellontop.com/ Sean Weigold Ferguson

    I've found that at around 500-600 followers, it becomes impossible to keep up with my Twitter stream in real-time. Lists are a fantastic way to keep track of the people I most care about.

  • http://www.kylechowning.com Chownage

    It's especially becoming useful when the twitter clients are integrating them into their software.

  • http://lynettecornell.com/ Lynette Cornell

    Lists are great for continuing to follow people so you retain their following (and thus the power of their network and making them feel like they're part of your posse) without having their tweets clogging up your feed. Works nicely for managing both small and large followings.

    But I think that keeping lists private is a good idea if you intend on using it for this purpose, especially if you want people to think that you're reading their tweets (when in reality, they're on none of your “must read” lists.)

  • darrenrowse

    I'm exactly the same – I wrote them off as something I didn't have use for – but have since found 3 private lists to be indispensable. I think they're particularly useful when you follow a tonne of people or have different niche interests. I have also found them useful in finding people to follow in niches by searching for lists around topics.

  • http://paulbarron.posterous.com/ paulbarron

    I have found the lists to be useful in the same way and think that the interaction opportunity with lists have actually helped me connect even better. It's always good to be wrong, it proves we are human and can continue to seek learning and inspiration. I still want to be on your third tribe list.. :) cheers and hope you have a great holiday season.

  • http://www.benspark.com BenSpark

    I set up a public list for the people who have been on a podcast that I enjoy called The Sarcastic Voyage and that was received well by the guy who produces the podcast. The list is great because you can pull lists right into tweetdeck, makes management so much easier. Lists for events is also nice because then you can see who is going to an event and what they are saying about it, You can also start to network with people before the event and get that question of are you attending such and such event out of the way easily. Not that that is a tough question.

  • josephherrera

    I felt that twitter was overwhelming me until I started using Lists. I now have a friends list, an interesting people list and a baseball information list. I can continue to follow people without fear of ruining my twitperience.

  • http://techie-buzz.com keithdsouza

    LOL, guess Robert Scoble is going to love this peice of information

  • josephherrera

    I use lists to help keep twitter from becoming overwhelming. I don't have 10's of thousands of followers either, but by sorting I definitely improve the experience

  • http://www.brajkovic.info/ Ilija Brajkovic

    I still don't use lists for my account, maybe I should start also.

  • frankkenny

    Lists have been great for us. I run a chamber of commerce. I was able to create one simple list with all of my members on it that are using Twitter. It makes it so much easier now for me to have members follow other members. http://twitter.com/FrankKenny/n-mason-chamber-m…

    I have another list for Chambers across the country that are using Twitter. Now we can simply all keep up with what each other is doing at http://twitter.com/FrankKenny/chambers-of-commerce

    Finally, I have a professional speakers list for my own growth at http://twitter.com/FrankKenny/public-speakers

  • http://www.ericgreenspan.com Eric Greenspan

    Well done Chris.

    I like to use a private list called “reviewing” that I add tweeps to and later determine if I want to really follow them. If they pass the reviewing stage (few days, few weeks), I then add them to my MustFollows, CoolTweeps or a more regionally specific list and/or a combination of them. http://www.ericgreenspan.com

  • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan

    I'm still not feeling twitter lists Chris. I can see why they'd be valuable, but if I'm following someone I'm interested in what they have to say.

    Then again I'm not following 90K :) I still feel that twitter is about following someone who you're genuinely interested in following. Perhaps if you're feeling different interests on different days lists are a useful tool.

  • http://johnhauxwell.spaces.live.com/ John Hauxwell

    I would probably have missed this if I didn't use lists.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Sure don't. I read @replies, searches, and searches, and more searches, and a few lists. But 90K+ people can DM me.

  • http://clayfranklin.com Clay Franklin

    I love the list concept. I had better get on the ball and get mine put together. Also want to try out Friendfeed to follow my best buddies online.

  • http://cooper-taylor.com Carol Cooper-Taylor

    I love your pragmatic approach Chris. “OK I got it wrong. Let's learn and move on.”

    Love it.

    More people should have this approach to life :)

  • http://blogs.wcnickerson.ca/ LoneWolf

    How exactly do you make use of the lists? I use TweetDeck which already has a group feature. I can export my groups into lists, but I'm not sure what benefit that would have yet.

  • remarkablogger

    Takes a little bit of courage to say that. So easy to just let it lie, sweep it under the rug through inaction. Bravo. You're setting a good example.

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