By default, Twitter displays tweets from everyone you follow in one giant stream. If you follow too many accounts – or just too many noisy accounts, such as news websites – your Twitter stream will get cluttered and disorganized. For example, tweets from websites you’re following may narrow down tweets from your friends.
Twitter lists can be used as an organizational tool to help you solve this problem.
Twitter Lists Explained: Why You Need Them
Instead of “following” someone and having their Tweets appear in your stream, you can choose to add them to a list. Their Tweets won’t appear in your stream, but in the list you’ve added them to.
For example, you can create a “Tech News” list and add your favorite tech websites to it. Then, you can check your tech news list every time you want to see the latest tweets about what’s happening in tech. You can create a list of the most popular accounts to stay up to date with their content without publicly following them.
Your primary Twitter stream will be reserved for the important people you’re actually following, with tech news isolated in one section of it. Lists like this allow you to filter your Twitter stream.
You can also create multiple lists. For example, let’s say you have more than one interest—tech stuff, cooking, sports, and whatever. You can create a separate list for each interest by adding related Twitter accounts to the appropriate lists.
You’ll then have separate lists in which to browse the latest things people are tweeting about, keeping tweets organized instead of letting the tweets overwhelm each other in your main stream. Twitter lists are practically a substitute for RSS readers.
Public vs private lists
Twitter lists can be public or private. When they’re private, they’re just for you; No one else can see your lists. When they’re public, other people can see their name and who’s in them from the Lists section on your Twitter profile. This is a great feature and one of the reasons Twitter is underrated.
Public lists can act as a type of recommendation feature. For example, you can add your favorite tech sites and bloggers to the tech content list. Other people viewing your Twitter profile can see this list and see who you recommend to follow when it comes to tech stuff. They can also subscribe to your list. Your list will appear in their Lists section, and anyone you add to it will appear in theirs as well.
For example, MUO maintains a staff list with the Twitter accounts of all of our writers. You can subscribe to this list to see what the writers here are tweeting from our personal accounts.
You can also see which lists the Twitter account is a part of. For example, if you look at a MakeUseOf author’s Twitter account page, you’ll see that they’re on the “Staff by MakeUseOf” Twitter list.
Provides confirmation that this author does in fact work for MakeUseOf, as attested to by the official MakeUseOf account. It can also be used by other organizations.
Click the checkbox to add a Twitter account to the list you’ve already created. If you want to create a new list, just click on the Create List button.
When creating a new list, you must provide a list name. You can also enter a description to describe the purpose of the list. The list is public by default, but you can also make it private. These lists can be used to differentiate between the profile types you want to follow for content. For example, when adding MakeUseOf’s Twitter page to a list, you’ll choose a list of tech sites from the list displayed below.
To access your lists, simply go to your profile page using the Profile tab at the top of the Twitter website. Click Lists, and then click the list you want to view. You can also click the gear in the upper-right corner of the Twitter page and choose Lists. You’ll see Tweets from each account in the list.
To view other people’s lists, simply visit their profile page and click on the Lists option in the same way.
Declutter your twitter feed with lists
Decluttering your Twitter feed is the best way to stay up-to-date with all the accounts you want to follow while making sure they don’t get lost in the noise of your main Twitter feed. This allows you to follow people to support them but still retain control of your feed. If you’re new to Twitter and want to get the most out of it, following these beginner tips is a great place to start.
