Twitter is an accelerated social network that never stops, which can be a bit overwhelming. It is challenging to be watching important issues at all times. And that's where lists can be useful: they make it easier to organize your feed.
Why should you use Twitter lists?
When Twitter was new, it was possible to follow everyone you found interesting and read all their tweets. This became unsustainable as the network grew and we soon had before us an avalanche of messages that were easy to lose.
With Twitter lists, you can divide individual accounts from others and transform that deluge into a small drip, centered on a specific topic. Also, you can easily add accounts to Twitter lists instead of following them.
This means that the tweets sent by the accounts in that list only appear there, keeping them out of your main timeline.
Possible uses of Twitter lists include
Sports: Do you follow a lot of soccer accounts that pollute your feed? Then create a new Twitter list and add them there. In this way, you will never miss the latest sports news, but your feed will not be filled.
Events: Add all attendees to an event to a Twitter list, keeping all your tweets in one place.
Directories: You can add all your coworkers to a special Twitter list. If you make it public, people can keep up to date with the latest news from your company.
Competitors: Do you want to control the competition without following it? There is a Twitter list so you can do it.
Celebrities: There's nothing wrong with keeping up with the latest celebrity gossip if that's your guilty pleasure. And with Twitter lists, it doesn't have to interfere with more important things for you.
Twitter allows you to create up to a thousand different lists, and each one can have up to 5,000 accounts. Here we explain how to start making lists.
How to create a Twitter list
The process to create new Twitter lists on the web and in the mobile application is almost identical. We will describe the differences as we move forward.
First, visit the twitter.com website and click on your profile image in the upper right corner of the page. Click on "Lists" in the drop-down menu. Now, if you are on the mobile, your profile icon is on the left and the "Lists" button is below it.
Click on the "Create new list" button on the right side of the page. On mobile devices, the button is at the bottom of the screen.
Now, click on “Create new list” and press the New list icon in the mobile version of Twitter.
Enter a name for your list and an optional description, if you wish. Select "Public" or "Private" (this is an Android checkbox) to control who can see the list and the accounts in it. Then, click on "Save list" to finish, or press "Done" if you are on your mobile device.
Now that you've created your first list, it's time to add some accounts.
How to add or remove accounts from a list
Go to someone's profile that you would like to add to a list. Next, click on the three vertical dots to the right of the account profile page. Or touch the ellipsis on the mobile and then click on the "Add or remove from lists" button.
Click or press on the list to which you want to add someone. If you want to create a new list, click on the "Create a list" button or touch the "New" icon on your mobile. Again, click or tap to uncheck any list from which you want to remove someone.
Close the window to save the changes or press the «Done» button on your smartphone.
How to see a list
To see one of your lists, click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of twitter.com, and then click on “Lists” in the drop-down menu. Press the profile buttons and "Lists" on the left if you are using the mobile application.
Click on the list you want to see.
There are shown all tweets of the accounts in that list.
Twitter lists can go a step further by using Tweetdeck, which is owned by Twitter. Tweetdeck was designed for those who need more flexibility, and is particularly good when it comes to lists.
You can display several lists simultaneously, unlike the main Twitter website. Each list automatically transmits new tweets as they are published, so you will never miss anything. The only drawback is that it is not available on mobile devices.