Coming to Twitter: Create Sharable Lists of Users
Twitter just announced a major new feature soon to launch: the ability to create sharable lists of users around topics of interest. This will tackle several problems with one feature: the ability to discover diverse high-quality users quickly and easily and the undue power Twitter HQ has had as the only curator of lists on the site so far.
Curation of dynamic topical expert sources is an act of poetry. Just like Twitter has caught on faster than RSS, Twitter Lists will probably catch on a lot faster than OPML has. If you've seen the new service TweepML then you've got the idea. This is going to be a very big deal.
"For example," Nick Kallen writes on the company blog, "you could create a list of the funniest Twitter accounts of all time, athletes, local businesses, friends, or any compilation that makes sense."
Twitter says that the lists won't just live on the site, either; there will also be a Lists API available to outside developers. That could mean that clients like Tweetdeck, Tweetie and Seesmic will no longer have any excuse to keep your group lists locked-in.
There is some question whether having Twitter control this technology, instead of an outside, standards-based body like TweepML is trying to be, is going to be a good thing. We'll have to see how they implement the feature and the API.
The possibilities here are endless, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for this feature to go live.
Speaking of TweepML, you can follow all the writers of ReadWriteWeb via this link.
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Marshall,
Thanks for the Twitter TIP! We took the last post regarding TweepML referenced and built Architects who Twitter (combining the Mashable review with Su Butcher's Architects Twitter League).
Look forward to seeing what we Twitter has to offer!
Best.
About freaking time. Now they just need to make the search truly usable (hint to Twitter - I want the option to restrict search to those I follow) and the complaints can slowly start to die down.
Um. WOW. Great feature. De-noise-ification of Twitter is becoming paramount ... Twitter, let me in now!!! I want to play.
Also: Does anyone know if the 'List Owner' removes an individual from a curated list whether that individual is dynamically removed for the followers of that List as well? And what happens if I was following that person already before subscribing to the List -- does this now Unfollow them for me?
We always look forward to new features that Twitter comes out with. Although, we do feel like their are many features they have not come out with that users really want. So we wonder what is the hold up!!!!
This is good in ways that have not been realized yet, or at least not mentioned in the article. Not only will it help thwart spam, it will help coalesce and differentiate real people from bots that have no real user at the keyboard. That's the first thing that comes to mind. A chaotic system gains an attractor, the ultimate effect is speculative.
Hmmm..It's pretty un-creative of Twitter to introduce a feature that already exists from dozens of providers...UNLESS they really innovate on top of that, such as with built-in analytics to surface content quality, not just list-driven content. Otherwise, Bless this mess.
Sounds good, but also a bit annoying as I just ported the scientwists list (science types on twitter) to TweepML. If Twitter creates its own version, I'll have to move it all again :-(
Sounds great !
Now I only need an option to filter the messages around topics of interest as well, and Twitter can actually become usable.
I want to subscribe to users writing about certain topics, but I also want to filter out what they're having for dinner, what music they're listening to etc.
This is a most welcome announcement.
And I strongly agree with Alte Iversen: filtering content is important. OR people on lists should separate out personal accounts from topic-related accounts.
Alex
Great idea, I am looking forward to this. Thanks for sharing.