Twitter lists: All they’re cracked up to be?
Last week, Twitter rolled out lists to thousands of users in order for them to better organize which fellow users they follow — and, more importantly, why they follow them There’s been a lot of talk about how lists are the “new” way to gauge your own popularity on Twitter, hinting that follower numbers are irrelevant unless someone is making a concerted effort to sort you into a category of some sort of influence.
It’s comforting to see a guy like Chris Brogan expressing skepticism about lists. An important observation he’s made points out that lists can become a way to exclude people; in other words, some Twitter users who have good stuff to say might fall through the cracks.
In talking with friends about it on Twitter, people immediately started DM-ing me, telling me that they felt left out or even LESS important because they weren’t on any lists. Lists are exclusionary by nature. They’re static. There’s a lot of reasons why they might not be all that pleasant for people.
If it makes someone like Brogan nervous — who, mind you, is by more than 1,500 people in Twitterville — it’s probably worth a second glance before we all race to list and be listed.
Another thing we should take into consideration? We can’t control who lists us — which means we could get grouped into “hacks” or “jerks” or “DO_NOT_HIRE” before we even know it. In this crazy, web-based phone book that is Twitter, should we be given the option to opt out of being listed?
If you’re looking for a good tutorial on how to use Twitter lists, check out this one from Mashable.
