6 Ways Twitter Lists Fall Short

Last week, just about everyone on Twitter finally received the much talked about Lists feature.  After the initial rush of newness, I found the feature to be lacking in several key areas.  Here are the six ways that Twitter Lists just fall a bit short.

1.  You can't collaborate

Creating my own Twitter list is great.  It helps me categorize my favorite Twitter users, and share that with my network.  But wouldn't it be great if we could collaborate?  What I'd really like to do is get together with some of my friends to create the ultimate Twitter list.  Could you imagine the power behind a Best Twitter Users list created by Robert Scoble, Chris Brogan, Steve Rubel, and Gary Vaynerchuck?  It would be epic.  Content curation at its finest. 

And sure they could get together to create this list in other ways, but it just wouldn't be the same.

2.  Tedious & time intensive

To date, I've created exactly two Twitter Lists.  And I think that's all I'll create.  Unless Twitter makes list creation more user friendly. 

I follow a lot of Twitter users.  3,741, to be exact.  And I like a whole heck of a lot of you, and would love to include as many of you in a list as I can.

To do that, however, I have to add each and every one of you, one by one. 

That, my friends, is not fun. 

What about a bulk uploader?  Or an input box that allows me to add multiple users at once.  If Twitter needs inspiration, look at the TweepML interface.  They make it easy (and fun) to create and share Twitter Lists.

3.  Too much duplication

Thus far, I've see a lot of duplication.  For example, if I want to find the definitive list for Dallas Twitter Users, how do I find that?  Just about every major Twitter User in Dallas has created their own Dallas list.  How do I find the one that's the best? 

Which brings me to my next point...

4.  Not easy to see top lists

I want to see the lists that contain those users who create the best content. 

I could go to Twitter Users like Chris Brogan or Gary Vanyerchuck to see who they follow.  In fact, that might be a great strategy.  But what about that obscure Twitter User who has made a fantastic list.  How do I find that?  I might dig for a few days, but would you? 

5.  Not sharable

Right now, the best way it seems to share a Twitter list is through the basic link to the list.  What if Twitter promoted a few featured lists, much like their featured users?  Or they offered trending stats for popular lists? 

6.  No integration with Twitter clients (yet)

I've heard rumors that most of the major Twitter clients will support lists soon, and I hope they do.  I've got a killer list of my favorite Twitter Users in my Seesmic Desktop.  I'd love to be able to share that list with everyone, but, see point #2 above.  It would take just too long.  I'm hoping the major desktop clients allow you to export (and import?) your favorite lists into the Twitter system.

Moving Forward

While I appreciate Twitter's effort at innovation, I'm not sure if lists will ultimately satisfy my thirst.  By themselves, they only offer marginal value to end users.  If, however, issues are addressed and the lists are developed beyond their current state, then maybe it will end up being a good feature for Twitter.

In the meantime though, I've got my two lists (one, two), and I'm thankful to everyone who's got me on theirs.

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