How to Use Twitter Lists to See the Most Important Tweets

The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes

Whether you’re new to Twitter or have been on the site for years, your experience will be greatly improved by seeing relevant tweets. But finding Twitter accounts that share interesting tweets can be a challenge.

By using Twitter Lists you can easily find Twitter accounts that others recommend, see tweets on particular topics, and view a cluster of accounts at once.

Twitter recently added filters to help you weed through irrelevant tweets. See,  Twitter Adds Filters to Improve the Quality of Tweets You See.

But you can also rock Twitter like a pro by using Twitter Lists, giving you a shortcut to seeing important tweets. You can create your own Twitter Lists and subscribe to others’ Lists to find tweets you want to see.

Reasons to Use Twitter Lists

By using Twitter Lists you can quickly check on a select group of accounts to see what people are tweeting. Rather than scanning your Twitter feed, filled with tweets from all accounts you follow, you can check a List to target in on specific accounts.

You can create Lists for topics of interest, such as your business, favorite sports team, TV shows you watch, hobbies, and more. If you’re about to travel to a region, you can follow a Twitter List of accounts for that area, to catch up on local news, weather, etc.

Use a Breaking News Twitter List to find out what’s going on in the world or check information during a major news event.

You may want to check Lists at certain times of the year, during a sports season, election cycle or events such as the Oscars, World Cup or Halloween. Perhaps you or your child are applying to colleges and you want to add interesting schools to a Twitter List.

You don’t have to follow accounts to have them on your Twitter Lists. You may not want to follow accounts and have their tweets appear in your feed. By adding these accounts to your Twitter Lists you can see their tweets only when you’re looking at the List and not in your feed.

Adding people to Twitter Lists can get people’s attention. If you develop a List with a complimentary title, such as “Awesome Tweeps,” people may be flattered that you added them.

An unkind title, such as “Jerks Who Should Never Be On Twitter,” may not serve you well.

How to Create a Twitter List

To create a new Twitter List, go to the Twitter website and click on your profile. Click on Lists in the top menu bar.

On the Lists Page, click Create new list on the right side of the page.

A pop-up window will appear. Name your list and add a description.

You can keep your List private (such as “Companies I Want to Work For” or “Colleges I’ve Applied to”) so only you can see it. You can also make a List public to share it with the world and let others subscribe to it.

Adding Accounts to Your Twitter Lists

After you’ve created a List, you can add Twitter accounts to it easily. When you find someone you want to add to a List, go to their Twitter profile and click on the gear icon. In the pop-up menu, click Add or remove from lists.

How to View Twitter Lists You’re On

A (hopefully) fun task is to view the Twitter Lists other accounts have added you to. You may be quite thrilled to see that someone added you to a Twitter List such as Awesome Tweeps, Expert (fill in the blank), or Twitter VIPs. Oh yeah.

To view Twitter Lists you’re on, go to the Twitter website and click on your profile. Click on Lists in the top menu bar.

On the Lists Page, click Member of to see the Lists others have added you to.

Viewing Others’ Lists

You can find and subscribe to others’ Twitter lists by going to their profile page and clicking on Lists, just as you do for your own account. You can see which Lists they have subscribed to and which Lists they are a member of.

Subscribing to Others’ Twitter Lists

You can subscribe to others’ Twitter Lists. This saves time from developing lists on your own and helps you discover accounts you might not have found otherwise.

View Twitter Lists from others’ Twitter accounts or do a Google search for Twitter Lists on a topic. Search for keywords, such as Twitter List NFL Teams if you’re a US football fan.

When you find a Twitter List you like, click on it to see tweets from members of the List. You can see who is on the List and who has subscribed to the List. Click the Subscribe button to add it to your Lists.

Check out Post Planner 101 Best Twitter Lists to Follow for ideas.

Your Thoughts

Have you used Twitter Lists? Have you found any Twitter Lists you recommend? Were you surprised by any Twitter Lists you’re on?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

* Twitter List image (edited) courtesy of Edar via Pixabay and Creative Commons

Cyber Intersection Podcast

I had the pleasure of chatting with Matteo DallOmbra of the Cyber Intersection podcast about the Apple event last week. We had a fascinating discussion about the new iPhones, AirPods, Apple Watch Series 2 and more.

You can check out the podcast at the Cyber Intersection website and on iTunes.