By now you've heard of Twitter's newest feature, Twitter Lists. You may have even decided to use the feature and have begun creating your own lists, or following the lists created by others (which could certainly save some time, provided you really trust the person aggregating and organizing the lists).
I was hearing all about these lists, running across both tweets (where some issued "thank you!" shout-outs for their impressive numbers) and blogs (some served as "how-to" instructions, others discussing the big-picture journalistic implications of the social segmentation feature).
Some of what I was reading struck me as a little floofy, to be honest, and mild-to-moderately ostentatious, with strong potential toward gratuitous. There have been lots of previous online discussions about influence and authority, and how their power can be determined. Brian Solis, whom I admire as much for his writing skills as much as for his PR and new media knowledge, suggests both a hierarchial and benign value to the tool. I respectfully disagree with the latter but concede that perhaps if my Twitter crowd numbers mirrored his, I might think differently. I disagree with the former because I'm not sure - truly - what actionable difference those followers, retweets, and list numbers make. I swear I'd love reading Seth Godin if his name were George Costanza (he just may have been harder to discover).
The question is, will Lists would truly add value to the way most people use Twitter, or will they merely muddy waters and perpetuate the trite qualities of social media that sometimes arise?
Much like the trolls who used their tech know-how to offer "GET 10,000 FOLLOWERS NOW!" I discovered there are services to help you become Twitter-listed. If that sounds a little materialistic and shallow, well it just might be for those who place great weight in quantity over quality. I maintain that while the perpetual 7-year old inside me might burst with happiness at the thought of a gazillion followers and inclusion on a few hundred lists, I'm doubtful that it would signify I'm a better, smarter, or more generous person. There will always be subsets - the cool kids, the jocks, the geeks, the bad boys - and most of us float in and around them some; precious few are part of the exclusive elite. I've matured enough since school to know numbers don't make the person, and they don't make the professional. That takes substance. Quality. Arrogance and self-awareness seldom go hand in hand. Pursuit of this List thing (both numbers and the perceived value of the purely subjective List title) kinda makes me want to puke. And that's truly not sour grapes talking.
I've always been on the fringe. Sometimes cool, sometimes not. So Lists (this inclusion, that exclusion) is really the story of my life (and the lives of many others, I believe). Only now the caste system isn't based on the label on my jeans, style of my Trapper Keeper or model of my dad's borrowed ride. It's now based on some list numbers (and followers, and commenters, etc.).
At a glance, visitors to my Twitter home page won't even know the manner in which I've been listed. Numbers could be tied to flattering titles, like "Smarties I like" or for less glamorous reasons like "Iowans." Whew, now there's a reason to make a list if I ever heard one.
In fairness, the Lists are truly just a new feature of a developing tool. There will be others to follow. Twitter has inargueably enabled me to connect with really interesting, talented people and discover countless bits of information from which to learn and grow. I've literally made real friends I value a lot. My life has been enriched. But I'm concerned we're only just beginning to really understand how Twitter (LinkedIn and Facebook and other social platforms, for that matter) have the power to divide and disassociate people while at the same time distinguishing them.
"People tend to think that these relationships are trivial and not very deep, but this is what we're moving towards, having a lot of our communications play out over the Internet," Purdue University social psychologist Kip Williams said. "That's the way it's becoming; this is how we interpret our worth. People care how many [online] friends they have." (followers, list numbers, etc.)
The polarity has been in play as long as the tools have - to friend or not, to follow or not, to retweet or not. Use of the tools is optional, and these aren't your *real* friends anyway/it's just online so it doesn't really matter. Right? Wrong.
These tools undoubtedly bridge geographical gaps, enabling curious, generous people to strike friendships and professional relationships. And clearly, the List function has powerful implications for the distribution of time-sensitive news, information, and event details. I fully acknowledge these and other positive outcomes, like how brands can segment customer activity from trade member interest, and other ideas listed here.
However, I believe that sensitivity and caution needs to be employed, and List users should be prepared for potential fallout. Whether categorizing someone under "social media smarty" instead of "social media expert" or not listing someone you tweet with at all, people could get hurt. They could take umbrage. Others could let their big numbers get to their big heads (if I see one more tweet from this one chick about how freaking honored she is, I might lose it. Her tweets might be genuine were it not for her second most frequent tweet, the one about exclusive invitations to her nearly sold out seminar, and all those darn exclamation points).
You may say that Lists are as they appear, a categorization and segmentation tool to help with social time management. Those that don't like your choices can get glad in the same pants they got mad in. That's all well and good until someone gets their eye poked out (and you get that dreaded DM asking why.....).
[It's been a couple of weeks since I created my starter lists, and in truth, I haven't used them for anything. But hey, that's just me. I didn't 'get' Twitter at first, either. ]
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