Twitter just released Twitter Lists. Steve Rubel points out that this is perhaps the new measure of influence?
In July 2008 I wrote “The Death of the A-List” which caused a slight stir. Ok, not really, I was right.
Here’s what I know. We don’t need lists to tell ourselves how influential we are. You don’t need them. I don’t need them.
You have influence or you don’t.
I was influential speaking to 30 entrepreneur ladies in a knitting shop the other night in Lakewood, Ohio. I didn’t need to be on their list to know I affected them. I could see it in their eyes.
I was influential on stage in front of 3k people introducing Chris Brogan and Gary Vaynerchuk at the past Affiliate Summit events. Do I need those people in that audience to put me on a list to tell me that I’m influential? No. Hundreds of emails and contacts later I just know I did a good job.
Haven’t we got past this yet? Twitter lists seem to want to resurrect the idea that certain people are “more” than others. Being on a list doesn’t mean anything anymore, as it shouldn’t. It’s nice to be included, but…
Influence is measured to me in terms of sales, leads and publicity for myself or my clients. Or in the way that my audience reacts to me either immediately or down the road. Perhaps it’s measured different for you, that’s fine. The point is there’s ROI in influence. Being on a list is going to help that? I’m not so sure.
Or maybe I’m missing the point entirely?
Todd says…
I think Twitter Lists will end up helping separate the men from the boys when it comes to influence. In addition to seeing a Twitter users follower count, we can now see the number of other Twitter users who have added them to lists (example to the right). I would argue that getting added to a list is a bigger deal than simply getting someone to follow you.
In today’s world, if you need to be on a list to prove your influence. You’ve already lost.
I see and understand your point. However, I would contend that it's not about YOU knowing if you're influential. It's about whether or not a completely random person who's never heard of you before can determine if you're influential.
I can see where you are coming from Jim, but Rightly or wrongly the lists from Authority magazines or sites do add a Perceived value( Not necessary True value) and that can influence the decision of Buyer.
Take for example the lists of most sexy women/men in the celeb magazines and it obviously increases the ratings of a particular celeb and then the lists becomes self perpetuating
You've been reading too much Chris Brogan.
The follower count has always been a dubious way to gauge whether someone has influence or is worth following. We all know it's incredibly easy to manipulate those follower counts and 75% of the "followers" are either bots or folks who don't give attention anyway.
Lists solves that problem in my book.
Am I inclined to think that someone is more authoritative on a topic or in a community because they are on a number of different lists? Yes, because it's a more organic way (at the moment) of issuing something like pagerank or quality score. Of course that will change and evolve just as Twitter continues to change and evolve.
Don't forget, following someone is an exclusionary act itself. So, having that number of followers and followings can be seen as trying to prop up the strawman of an A List if you go down that path.
So, stop worrying and love the bomb. Enjoy the feature for what it can be for you.
@Sam – "We all know it's incredibly easy to manipulate those follower counts and 75% of the "followers" are either bots or folks who don't give attention anyway.
Lists solves that problem in my book. "
Are you saying that lists can't be gamed?
It's just as easy to have lists comprising armies of strawmen.
At best lists or whatever social widgets or constructions the networks come up with should be viewed as just tools and not much more.
Anything else is just an exercise is self-promotion and blowing your own virtual trumpet.
Of course I know lists can/will be gamed. That's why I put "at the moment" and "that will change and evolve."
More importantly, the only folks wringing their hands over this issue are people over-obsessed with vanity and perceived influence.
As I said above, "Enjoy the feature for what it can be for you."
Nice qualifiers.
I am not looking forward to the majority of blog posts regarding lists…
I've seen a lot of people that either love or hate the new Twitter lists. You make a great point about lists, but I think they still have real value. You shouldn't (and don't) need lists to prove your influence, but they do offer some value I think.
I've found people to follow in certain industries from following lists created by other people I trust. I think that's a great use of lists. I don't look at how many lists I'm on and think about my influence or popularity. I just don't care that much.
Another extremely valuable use of lists that I think will come out in the next few weeks is integration with third-party applications. I have "groups" in several different Twitter applications. They're scattered and there's no easy way to get them synced. I'm hoping integrating Twitter lists (even private ones) with third party applications will allow me to have the same groups in Tweetdeck or Seesmic on my desktop as I have in Tweetie 2.0 (or 3.0) on my iPhone.
Being able to segment people I follow is much more important to me than creating lists I want to share with other people. I follow different people for different reasons, so sometimes I'm looking to connect with friends and family, while other times I'm interested in finding out more about a technology topic or learn about marketing. I think lists will help segment these groups allowing better interactions.
We'll see…
Lists are just a utility to help yourself organize things – don't worry about who is where, just use them to make yourself more efficient.
I personally think Twitter has the effect of falsely showcasing who has the right influence or who doesn't. It is difficult to gauge level of influence just by checking who has the number of follows, who's more active in broadcasting, and who follows who. Since, the facility with which Twitter is easily used and signed up to, I doubt it.