Twitter recently released an updated UI that allows you to “pin” Lists you’ve created to your Home timeline view. This makes it possible to swipe between each List quickly. It is a nice feature – especially for those with only a few lists or for those just starting out with them*.
Since this update was released I’m noticing more and more people mention Lists. So I believe this update is working how Twitter wanted it to.
Here is something I wrote about Lists 7 years ago:
I suppose my favorite part about using lists is that I can check Twitter whenever I want without the feeling that I’ll be overwhelmed and distracted by tweets. I can choose when I want to be distracted. When I want to sit down and catch up on Twitter I can go through a few of my lists depending on my mood.
This remains true today. If I’m in the mood to catch up on some outdoor activity lists – fishing, hiking, kayaking – I can dip into that List and catch up. But if I’m in the mood to catch up on technology – I can scroll through that List. It sort of reminds me of reading a particular section of the newspaper, rather than skipping around the newspaper randomly. It allows me to focus a bit more.
Also, Lists do not suffer from the Home timelines terrible algorithm. For that reason alone it is worth building a List or two.
One List of mine that has stuck around is the idea of a “Scratch” list. Today I call it “Heap”. Call it whatever you want, but this allows you to add random accounts to this List and see if they stick. If they do, it is worth taking the time to categorize them.
Not all accounts fit into a category. People, for instance, tweet about all sorts of things. So I find that my relationship with them ends up becoming the name of the List. And for everything else, I have a List called “Lump of People”. I have no idea where I get these names.
I cannot imagine using Twitter without Lists. So I’m glad they are investing in the feature rather than removing or ignoring it.
If you haven’t tried Lists on Twitter I recommend you give them a spin.
Now, if only Instagram would give me some way do to this same thing I’d use it a lot more.