Daily Dose – Making a list, checking it twice

Daily Dose – Social Media Tip of the Day – Making a list, checking it twice

“If I follow a lot of people on Twitter how will I keep up with everything that I find important? It all gets lost in my overwhelming Twitter feed!”

Does this sound familiar? I’ve thought it too.

One of my goals for 2012 is to better utilize Twitter lists. I use them sparingly, but I need to take advantage of this feature much more than I currently do.

I’m one of those people who finds everything interesting – unless you are a spammer or a porn star, I will most likely click the “Follow” button (once I shake off this annoying follow limit).

Using lists can help you sort through the Twitter clutter and actually see the tweets from people you find most important.

It’s simple: You organize the Twitterers you follow into groups, or “lists”, by clicking on the person’s profile, then clicking on the button with the person in it . That way when you view this particular list (you can name your lists whatever you want), you will see the stream of tweets from everyone in that group.

Important note – you do not need to directly Follow someone to add them to a list! 

Mashable has a great How To article on using Twitter lists; and I plan on writing a more comprehensive blog on how nonprofits can use Twitter lists to their advantage.

In the meantime, play around with lists, organize the people you Follow, streamline the time you spend on Twitter, and I guarantee you will be that much happier for it! (Now, if only I could take my own advice…)

How do you use lists? Do you find them beneficial? Please post your ideas in the Comments section.