Twitter. Unless you live on a rock, you know what it is. It is one of the biggest and fastest growing social networking sites today. Everyone uses twitter for different reasons. Whether it be personal, business, or even a mix of both. Even large corporations have started using not only Twitter, but other social media mediums (like Facebook and LinkedIn), to promote and brand their companies online.
In this post, I don’t want to define Twitter, or tell you how to use it. To each is your own. Do what with you want with your account. In this post, I was to share some ideas and tips on managing your Twitter account.
Twitter Lists. At this point, I am sure most of you are using them. Twitter lists are like, for example, Facebook groups. You group together people by a common interest, whether it be location, profession, or your closest friends. But are you using them to the fullest of their capabilities? Just throwing people you follow on a specific list and just letting it be is not the right way of using the list.
So if you don’t use Twitter lists, there are several reasons why you should start using the service ASAP. You can create lists that group together people for whatever reason and then you get to see those specific list followers in a separate feed (so you don’t have to sit through an hour of feeds to find specific followers). Lists allow you to organize the people you’re following into groups, and they even allow you to include people you’re not following, which is a great tool to use, and I’ll explain why a little later.
So in reality, there are many reasons for creating lists, but here are three ways that you could use the Twitter lists feature. Creating groups, recommending the tweeps on the specific groups, (and most importantly) following people you don’t want to follow.
Create Groups.
Because Twitter lists create grouped tweet streams of the people that are on them. For example, I created a list of VIPs that I follow. By viewing or following this list, you can see and read what all of my closest tweeps are tweeting about. You could do the same thing with your family, friends, co-workers, celebrities or just group Twitter users based on location, subject, or anything else you can think of.
Recommending Tweeps.
You can create a list of people you think other Twitter users should follow, then anyone else can visit that list and follow the people on it (or follow the list). Think of it as a “Follow Friday” times a hundred. One of the intentions of the Twitter Lists is to allow people to recommend other users to follow, which will cause more activity to the site.
Follow People You Don’t Want to Follow.
When you follow a Twitter list, you’re not actually following every user on the list. I think it is the best Twitter invention since… the invention of Twitter! When you do follow an entire list, those users’ tweets aren’t added to your main stream (which clears up a bunch of cluttering posts). You can then visit that list and view its tweet stream. That’s why you can also use lists to follow people without really following them. For example, if there are users whose tweets you’d like to follow, but they tweet too often and fill your stream, you can add them to a list and then check up on their latest tweets every so often by viewing your list.
Now one of the reasons why I love Twitter lists: following celebrities, without following them. I understand if you are a huge fan of so and so celebrity, but lets be realistic: they will almost never answer your tweets. Why waste a follow and space in your feed, on someone you won’t be tweeting with? Twitter is meant is meant to connect and engage people in conversation. Creating a “Celebrity List” is perfect for following your favorite celebrity tweeps and reading their posts, without their posts filling your stream.
Now when you create the Twitter lists, there are two options, public or private.
Public Lists.
These lists can be seen by anyone and everyone. Anyone can also follow them.
Private Lists.
Only the creator of private lists will be able to see or subscribe to them (not even those on the list can see private lists). If you wanted to, you could create a list of your competitors and keep an eye on them without them even knowing (kind of like a sneak attack…on Twitter).
With all the networking events that I have been to, I have met so many people, shared many ideas, and in the end, followed tons of people I have made connections with. But following 300+ people is hard to keep track of. Using the list capabilities that Twitter offers is a great way to manage who you follow, and how you can stay connected to everyone you follow, no matter the number.
The following can be examples of lists you can create:
Clients, Competitors, Friends, Family, Industry Related, (Specific) Topics, Humor, News Related Tweeps, Celebrities, Authors, and the list goes on!
So, finally, how do you manage these lists? Easy. Use them. The more you use these lists, the little managing you will have to do. You can always take people off the list, or add them on to it.
Meet someone and don’t want to follow them? Add them to a list. Someone taking up your whole Twitter stream? Add them to a list. Enjoy reading someone’s tweets, but they never respond? Add them to a list. Lists are a great way to follow people without following them! Every Twitter user should take full advantage of the lists.
Share your experience with Twitter lists in the comments below!
Author Bio: Alfonso A. Santaniello - I am the founder of the Creative Strategy Agency, full service marketing, social media, and business consulting agency. I’m also the founder and host of Strictly Businews, a weekly news web show premiering in May. I’m from western Massachusetts (USA) but currently resides in Boston. I love visiting my family in friends in Italy. In my spare time, I like to go to the gym, run, eat, and spend time with family and friends. For more of Alfonso, visit his personal blog at http://thealfonso.wordpress.com/
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