Last week Twitter announced the release of Twitter lists.  In this post, we’ll take some time to explain what they are, why you should use them, and how.

What are Twitter Lists?

Lists are groups of Twitter users that you can follow at once.  For those that use outside applications to manage Twitter such as Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, or Seesmic, this is similar to creating a group.  The major difference is instead of this collection of users only being available to you, it’s available to everyone using Twitter to follow. This makes it much more efficient to follow a group of users you’re interested in. i.e. You can follow the whole team at FYIndOut by following our FYIndOut Team list.

Why should our company create a Twitter List?

Easier to connect

First of all, creating a list of users within your company makes it much easier for someone to follow and connect with your entire team.  If a user has to go through 20 clicks to follow everyone, they probably won’t do it but if you give them to ability to connect with you in one click the odds are much higher that they will.

You’re in control

Another reason to create a list is that you control who’s on it and keep your followers aligned with your company.  If someone follows a member of your team and that person leaves your company, you may lose your connection with that person altogether.  However, if they’re following your team list, you have the ability to add and remove users from that list as needed and anyone following that list always stays in touch with your current team.

Build your reputation

By creating lists related to your industry you also build your reputation as a thought leader in your area.  For example, you can see our B2B Social Media list here.  We’re still growing it out so let us know if you’d like to be added.

Help others

Finally, and most important, creating lists helps others.  It helps those on your lists to gain more followers and find a new audience that may not have heard of them and it helps those that follow the list connect with a group of people they care about in an efficient manner.

How to create a Twitter List

1. When you go to your Twitter home page, you should see the banner at the top that tells you about the new feature.  Click the “Create a new list” button.

OR

If you’re on someone else’s Twitter page there is a new “Lists” dropdown in the right side of the body.  Click the “New list” option.

 

2. Enter the List name you would like to use for the list.  The URL for the list will be twitter.com/[your username]/[list name].

3. Select whether you want the list to be public or private.  If it’s public, anyone will be able to see and follow your list.

4. Click the “Create list” button to save the list.

How to add people to your Twitter list

1. When you see someone you would like to add to a list, simply click the “Lists” dropdown and click the checkbox next to the list you would like to add them to.  It’s that simple.

We’re just beginning to experiment with Twitter lists and we suggest you do the same.  The potential and value for these lists are quite compelling so the earlier you start and create a list that others will follow, the better.

Tags: twitter, Twitter lists

Posted by Scotton Nov.03, 2009@ 8:00 am

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.