Comments on: Twitter Makes Lists … Competitive

By: SEO Seattle

SEO Seattle — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:34:45 +0000

Personally, I think Twitter is reaching the top of its S Curve. The whole thing is pretty played out imho. You know it’s become MySpace like when the local weatherman in BFE says to checkout him out on Twitter for more weather info… Barf… Gag… Puke…

By: The trouble with (Twitter) lists… | Tamar

The trouble with (Twitter) lists… | Tamar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:27:14 +0000

[...] but I know for a fact that this isn’t true (though it may be a recent change, to be fair). This post makes the valid point that using “listed” as a metric for authority can be very [...]

By: SEO by Just Say ON

SEO by Just Say ON — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:50:13 +0000

I don’t want nor care to be on anyone’s Twitter list, but it does give me an opportunity to recognize others I feel are on the right track. Hopefully others will notice my list and recognize that person’s contributions as well.

By: Twitter’s “Listed” Stat: Is It a Measure of Influence?

Twitter’s “Listed” Stat: Is It a Measure of Influence? — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:20:31 +0000

[...] already wondering if Lists will lead to competitiveness or a way to “judge influence.” A.J. Kohn of Blind Five Year Old believes that Twitter promotes competitiveness and comparison by including “listed” as [...]

By: thehandsomeman

thehandsomeman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:34:55 +0000

I care less about list. I want quality results not quantity mess.

By: Chris Lawson

Chris Lawson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:20:58 +0000

Excellent points! Twitter Lists is the reason I quit my account. Lists are meant to be a way to organize those folks you follow. Why do people need to have a running total of how many lists they are on, other than as just another number to brag about? People are already tweeting their list number and thanking people as if they have won a popularity contest (which Twitter Lists pretty much are). Twitter was fun when it was stumbling upon new and interesting people. I don’t want to have to hope I make anyones “List”.

By: Rebecca Leaman

Rebecca Leaman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:38:49 +0000

In all the recent heated debate for-and-against Twitter Lists, you raise a point I haven’t yet seen zeroed in on – the “listed” metric. Now that you mention it, I can’t for the life of me see what purpose it does fill, other than to foster a spirit of competitiveness that serves no one and can do harm.

Also, your point that people are multi-faceted is a good one, and key to why so many of us struggle with list-making, I think.
Setting up rigid expectations –
After all, if you create a list of “mobile home archictects” and people follow that list because they have a passion for pre-fab domestic cubes, won’t the people on the list feel pressure to restrict their tweeting to mobile-home-related topics? And won’t the list-followers (the 2nd-hadn followers, if you will) feel cheated if the listed folks develop a sudden passion for “pre-WW2 golf trophies”, say, and want to tweet about that instead?

You’re right, this mismatch between people and list labels can make it difficult to find “interesting” people to follow. My solution, at the moment, is to create a (private) “holding pen” list into which I can pop people who catch my eye, watch their tweets, and think about how they might fit into my own (highly idiosyncratic) Twitter List filing system.

By: schoolroomearth

schoolroomearth — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:26:45 +0000

Great post! Good food for thought. List build ego too, another bad thing… twitter is about community and ideas… so easy to turn into ego game of comparisons.