Launched towards the end of 2009, Twitter Lists offer people a way to organize users they are following on Twitter. It is also a way to find new people to follow as well. Similar to “grouping” Twitter connections, lists can simply give people an overview of what each group is Tweeting.

Creating a Twitter List is easy – it just involves a few simple steps:

    1.  Log into Twitter
    2.  Click on “new list” underneath the search box
    3.  Name the list and add a description (the name will also be the URL)
    4.  Choose to keep the list public or private
    5.  Click “create list”
    6.  Add tweeps to your lists by clicking the lists button on any “following” page

Using Twitter Lists for Business

There are several ways businesses can take advantage of using Twitter Lists. First of all, the purpose behind them, as mentioned before, is to “group” tweeps together. By creating groups, businesses can keep an eye on particular groups without spending a lot of time searching through their main Twitter feed.

Example #1: Monitor Your Clients

You are using Twitter to follow one of your clients. You follow several employees that work for this particular client and you have placed them all on one Twitter List. One day you take a quick look at this list and you notice one employee tweets about a blog post that was written on their corporate blog. You take the time to read the blog post and then mention it at your next meeting, which ends up sparking conversation for a new project. With just a quick glance over a Twitter List, you have created an opportunity for your business.

You can also create a group for your own employees, co-workers or friends. Another way businesses can utilize Twitter Lists is to use them to recommend other users to follow. 

Example #2: Promote Your Business

You decide to create a list of users that you want to recommend to others, which includes some of your partners and employees, as well as some of your industry thought leaders. After creating a public list, others can choose to follow the people on it or simply follow the list all together. This is another way to acquire more followers and expand your network as well.

You can also choose to add users to your lists that you don’t want to actually follow. These tweets would not appear on your main Twitter feed so you will only see them if you visit the list and view its separate tweet stream.

Example #3:  Track, but Don’t Follow  

There is a publication that you want to follow, but are afraid they tweet too much throughout the day and you don’t want them in your main Twitter feed. You can put them on a separate list so that you can visit their latest tweets when you are interested.

Twitter List Management

Your lists will appear underneath the search box on the right-hand side of your Twitter account. If you click on “view all” you will find the list is divided up between the lists you are following and the lists that are following you. This is where you can edit or delete users from your lists, change the private/public status of each list or remove specific lists all together.

You can remove yourself from any lists that you don’t want to be on by blocking the list creator as well. If you want to find lists to follow, then there is a third-party site called, Listorious, which you can use to search for Twitter lists. 

How is your business using Twitter lists? Let us know @verndaletweets.