Nevertheless, if you know how to use them – and where to find them – Twitter lists can make using the social network a whole lot easier and more productive.
What are Twitter lists?
Twitter lists are basically curated groups of Twitter accounts. Any Twitter user can create their own, or subscribe to public lists that others have created.
One of the criticisms of Twitter is that once you are following more than 100 or so accounts, keeping track of what all those people are posting becomes very difficult. Follow thousands, and it’s impossible – you can dip in from time to time, but chances are you’ll miss posts from users whose updates you really value, and have to sift through posts from others you’d rather see less of.
Creating Twitter lists lets you address this very problem. You can add selected Twitter users – as few or as many as you like – to a new list, give that list a name, and then, whenever you log in, view a timeline featuring only the tweets from the accounts featured on that list. If you wish, you can create tens or even hundreds of Twitter lists to group together particular users in this way.
How do I set up a Twitter list?
The location of the ‘Lists’ or ‘View Lists’ menu item changes depending on whether you’re using Twitter via the iOS app, Android app or web browser, so the easiest thing is to check out the Twitter ‘Help Centre’, where there’s a page with instructions for each device type.
Whatever device you’re on, an important decision is whether to make your new list ‘public’ or ‘private’.
A public’ list can be seen, and subscribed to, by anyone, making it a good choice if you want to create a list that others will find useful – like this list of ‘Business Support’ organisations, created by Converge member North East BIC.
In contrast, a private list cannot be seen by anyone else – even by those accounts you add to it. So, for example, a private Twitter list can be good for keeping an eye on your competitors – not only will they not know you’re doing it, but you can also add their accounts to your Twitter list without having to actually follow them.
So what are Twitter lists good for?
If you’re a business or organisation whose raison d'être is about being useful and well networked, signposting other useful accounts via public Twitter lists – like North East BIC does – does your brand no harm at all.
Alternatively, perhaps you’re a business that manages a collection of different Twitter accounts, like Converge member CannySites.com. In a scenario like this, you can create a public list featuring all the Twitter accounts in your portfolio.
However, private lists are likely to be your most useful tool for keeping yourself organised on Twitter. As well as building lists to help you keep track of competitors or clients, another canny move is to create a list of really important Twitter accounts in your field – the ‘Twitterati’, if you like.
Keep this list to a manageable number of 50 or so accounts, and use it to follow what the key influencers in your industry are posting.
By retweeting or responding to selected tweets from these VIPs on a regular basis, you’ll find that Twitter lists can help you build your own following and influence – as well as simply being a great tool for adding some order to the Twitter chaos.