Twitter finally adds user groups feature, calls them lists

October 16, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

entlistTwitter’s new feature, which the company calls lists, allows users to group together curated collections from among the people they follow.

For example, the list @paulboutin/entourage merges status updates from my hand-chosen group of best friends ever: Facebook chantreusse Randi Zuckerberg, VentureBeat mobile maniac Matthäus Krzykowski, local publicist David Speiser, and Bono.

The syntax for a describing a list in conversation is like this: @paulboutin/entourage. The URL for a list looks like this: twitter.com/paulboutin/entourage. Open that URL, and you’ll see only updates from the four users I’ve put on my entourage list.

lists1Twitter rolled out the lists feature to a test group who simply found a notice at the top of our home pages upon visiting them today. The notice ends sarcastically: “You’re part of a small group receiving this feature, so don’t tweet about it yet!”

entourage

The ability to create groups is possibly the most in-demand feature among Twitter users. Reading one big river of updates from everyone they follow quickly becomes a mess for users who follow lots of other users.

Twitter has stalled on rolling out this feature since day one of its existence, when users began asking for it. Startup companies present.ly and yammer jumped in and filled the demand for a groups feature, as did many others. It’s unclear why Twitter waited so long to roll out this feature.

My one gripe: Lists is the wrong name. There are many things on Twitter that are already lists of stuff: The list of people I follow, the list of people following me, the list of updates from my friends, the list of updates from the lists of friends I’ve created, and the list of trending topics. Using the broad term “lists” here will get Twitter bitten in the future.

I’m still playing around with lists. Email me at paul@venturebeat.com if you want me to try anything out for you.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • I've been waiting for this, they're finally catching up to Facebook functionality.
  • Lists will allow to produce new feeds by remixing existing content. This is very promising.
    We at MustExist developed an easy way to create and share Twitter Lists. More features that make lists useful and fun are coming shortly.
    This is a sample list of 10 best comedians: http://www.mustexist.com/twitter_groups/comedia... . Create your own lists now.
    All lists created on MustExist will be ported to Twitter as soon as the API is released.
  • Would be nice if anyone could see a list page whether they can create or not. I've tried multiple times (@scobleizer, @andrewmuller, yours) and get a blank page. Not even an HTTP error.

    Is it me (FF 3.latest on OS X) or Twitter?
  • "Using the broad term “lists” here will get Twitter bitten in the future."

    Better "lists" than an emotionally-laden term like "friends"!
  • yemikosibah
    Thanks for sharing that. I think it's a good move it if works properly.