This week for our She Said, He Said posts we decided to tackle Twitter lists. Shelby Sapusek leads off today with her take and I’ll follow up tomorrow. As usual tomorrow’s post will include topics for this week’s #shehechat over on Twitter at 8 p.m. CST each Thursday evening.
Shelby Says
I would classify myself as a list person. I love lists. I make daily and weekly lists of work tasks in my little notebook and gleefully check them off one by one as I complete each. It’s ironic, therefore, that I don’t use Twitter’s Lists feature at all. (At this point, I will say that I’m a little hesitant to continue because I can almost hear the clicking of the mouse buttons as I get deleted from list after list across my networks.)
As of this writing, I’ve been listed on Twitter 126 times. I will admit that I have gone in and followed a very small number of those lists (less than 20), but I never actually navigate to those lists and look at just those streams. I prefer my general population stream that includes all of the nearly 2,000 people I follow. I never know where the good stuff is going to come from and I don’t want to miss anything when I’m actually online and paying attention.
It’s not that I don’t think the Lists feature in Twitter is beneficial. I’m positive that it is. Many people have given me great examples of how they use them for business and personal use. I just haven’t found a good reason yet to use it myself. I have even tried to convince myself. Long ago, I bookmarked a Mashable article on 10 ways to best use Twitter lists. Alas, I just can’t do it. Every social network has features that I don’t frequently use. Twitter lists is just one of those for me.
Ah, but there is more to it than that… if I’m being honest with myself.
I recently re-evaluated my stance on Twitter lists when I joined the Google+ community and I had to contemplate the concept of circles. Should I make circles beyond the default ones provided? Oh, how I have struggled with that. I have yet to make a unique circle and I also have yet to share something on G+ to only one specific circle. Much like on Twitter, everything I’ve shared on G+ has been public to anyone who’s following me.
I find this safer somehow because, the truth is, I’m a little scared to handle it any differently.
If you are familiar with me at all, you know I have a pretty strict social media strategy across all my networks. We can tick the issues off if you like: I don’t normally swear, I don’t discuss politics, I avoid religious discussions, etc.
For me, the problem with Twitter lists (and G+ circles for that matter) is that I can see myself creating ways to betray my own strategy. It will be okay to swear to just these people on this one Twitter list, right? I can broadcast my religious beliefs in just this one G+ circle I created, right?
That is just too slippery a slope for me right now.
I’m afraid of Twitter lists (and G+ circles) because they might enable me. So for now, my lists will be kept in my personal notebook and nowhere else. At the same time, I welcome anyone who is willing to step forward and try to change my mind.
I use lists (and circles) as consuming devices. On Twitter, it lets me see the updates from a select group of people (or brands) which can be useful. On Google+ I rarely share with just a circle, as nearly everything I share is public, but again, I use them for consuming what a specific group of people are saying.
Yes, that’s a great example of how both lists and circles can be used. I guess I just don’t trust myself to use them within my personal boundaries of my social media strategy.
There’s also something great about being able to say: Everything I put out there is public. Nothing is hidden and everyone who wants to know can know everything about me.
I’m with you. I also have a hard time using Google + to break people I know into different circles. I actually like the concept and appreciate that Google included it — it’s just that I never used different lists for Facebook or Twitter, so I’m used to using social networks in a certain way. Typically that means that I won’t target just a few friends with a post, and I won’t post anything I’m not comfortable with pretty much everyone seeing.
Josh, sounds like you are in my circle (no pun intended) on this topic. I, too, like that the feature is there even if I choose not to use it.
I use lists for sorting my stream into relevant topics and for notification purposes, but I always find myself coming back to my “all friends” column when I am actively engaged. It’s a nice balance for me.
I use lists for sorting my stream into relevant topics and for
notification purposes, but I always find myself coming back to my “all
friends” column when I am actively engaged. It’s a nice balance for me.
That does sound like a nice balance and I’m glad it works for you, Brian.
Something else that just occurred to me: Let’s say I create 5 lists. I would be compelled to not only check my general stream but each list every day. Suddenly, it would be like checking 5 more Twitter accounts. Maybe that’s another reason they bother me. It’s the extra time I know I would spend with the lists.
Looking at your stream, I don’t see that you use tweetdeck or hootsuite, but with those tools (or similar ones), it’s not something else you have to check. It just runs the in the background or can be viewed as columns side by side. I use it as a way to *save* time.
Yep. I’m only using the Twitter app for iPhone most of the time. I’ve used HootSuite in the past so I can see how that would be the best way to view multiple lists. *shrugs* I guess I’m just comfortable with my old school Twitter app. =)