We all navel gaze in the era of the social web.
I remember I used to check my stats when I started blogging and obviously that happened on Twitter for a while as well.
I don’t check my personal Twitter stats anymore, but I do want to know everything about Stocktwits and companies I have invested money with.
When asked, I always tell people that you must be willing to be UNfollowed and UNread when you blog and tweet. In the stock market it is called ‘backing and filling’. It’s a healthy thing. In fact, I lost two followers from my last tweet and it feels great:
I just peed chocolate. I may pass a Starburst tomorrow.
Last week, Twitter lists launched. I believe the web of the future is all about discovery and filters. The seduction of attention has created a massive spam problem. No offense to Twitter follower leaders Ashton Kutcher, Dell and CNN, but you just won’t say anything of interest for me to follow and there is NO way Twitter is working properly for Web 4.1654 if you are.
Twitter Lists seems like a step in the right direction. I really like this post by Todd Zeigler on how twitter lists can be used to judge influence .
I know for Stocktwits it was very important to us to suggest people to follow the first time they show up. Curated lists will always be flawed because great people will be missed and left off, but it’s a start.
I/We at Stocktwits are open to all suggestions.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way to that end. We're working on some things that will help on that front.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but even as is the resulting rankings are interesting.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way to that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way to that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end.
BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there's a metric that I've been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account's followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.
I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We're working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
They won't. Try tlsist or listorous
Great
The term that springs to mind is “necessary but not sufficient”. If the primary goal is to give users tools/resources that allow them to more easily “discover” other users/accounts they might be interested in, then there are a couple relatively simple tools that Twitter could provide in addition to Lists that would go a long way toward that end. BTW – In addition to what Todd mentions in his post about the differential between follower rank and list rank, there’s a metric that I’ve been playing around with that I think is also helpful: # Lists an account appears in as a % of that account’s followers. Needs some refinement (including “influencer” weighting) but the resulting rankings even as is are interesting.I think it was Michael Wolff that said “The real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering”. We’re working on some cool stuff that will help on that front.
Great
You make some good piints always.
Its just a tool and feature. Left alone twitter won't solve it but maybe tlists and other app guys will.
If Lists helps reduce at least some mindless reciprocal following, then it's good and as you and Todd say in particular a good proxy for true influence. People will no doubt find ways to game the system (reciprocal listing already seems to be happening) but it's at least a step in the right direction.
But the tools – or lack thereof – for creating and managing lists are terrible right now. Twitter needs to fix that pronto.
I am with you. Twitter is just a communication tool. Period
Honestly, I'm still lukewarm on the impact of Twitter Lists. It's too early to tell whether lists can be used to judge influence when they are so embryonic in actual usage (only a fraction of Twitter users had access until late this week).
The issue is in the curation and management of those lists, not just their creation and seeing who's in or out of a list.
So, we went from RSS feed management (a nightmare) to Twitter accounts management (becoming challenging) to Twitter Lists management (a challenge in the making). At the end, most users want to be consumers, not producers, so I foresee a few subject-matter experts curating/managing Lists and most others consuming that content. I wouldn't underestimate the efforts required to keep professional subjects lists up to date and current.
Another thing I haven't seen yet, and we need it badly is a Twitter list widget that takes a List and outputs the Tweets, similar to the existing 3 other Twitter widgets that already exist.
Thanks Howard. I agree it's a tool/feature whose benefits are directly related to what we do with it (there will be the Good, Bad, Ugly & Useless of lists).
Perhaps curation and filtering are the right levers to start with. Eventually, we'll need some sorts of metrics on Lists,- a “List Analytics” business, anyone?
For e.g. traffic on Lists: who's reading your Lists- do we know?
I'm bullish on lists. Example, this week I ditched the All Messages stream on StockTwits Desktop because signal/noise is no good compared to Suggested list, which is almost all signal. I am missing some good people on All Messages, but if they're that good the rest of the community will find them for me.
I'm not entirely sure what to think about Twitter lists yet. I have been pondering creating one as well, but haven't deployed my ideas beyond meatspace.
As you know, I like to post Twitter news to StockTwits. I didn't want to flood my Twitter stream, but there is A LOT of panty twisting over Twitter Lists this weekend.
Everything from “Are Twitter lists the new blogrolls?” to people pissed at Mashable “Shame on You @Mashable. You’re Better Than This.” to list Spam “Spam Arrives In Twitter Lists” to general soul burning “Twitter is Great! Twitter Sucks! You're Using Twitter Wrong!”.
Whatever the final fate of Twitter Lists, they sure have become an instant touchstone. Which is good.
=^.^=
If Lists helps reduce at least some mindless reciprocal following, then it’s good and as you and Todd say in particular a good proxy for true influence. People will no doubt find ways to game the system (reciprocal listing already seems to be happening) but it’s at least a step in the right direction.
But the tools – or lack thereof – for creating and managing lists are terrible right now. Twitter needs to fix that pronto.
They won’t. Try tlsist or listorous
Thanks for the rec Howard!
Unlike team, http://listorious.com has an “i” in it.
Honestly, I’m still lukewarm on the impact of Twitter Lists. It’s too early to tell whether lists can be used to judge influence when they are so embryonic in actual usage (only a fraction of Twitter users had access until late this week).The issue is in the curation and management of those lists, not just their creation and seeing who’s in or out of a list. So, we went from RSS feed management (a nightmare) to Twitter accounts management (becoming challenging) to Twitter Lists management (a challenge in the making). At the end, most users want to be consumers, not producers, so I foresee a few subject-matter experts curating/managing Lists and most others consuming that content. I wouldn’t underestimate the efforts required to keep professional subjects lists up to date and current. Another thing I haven’t seen yet, and we need it badly is a Twitter list widget that takes a List and outputs the Tweets, similar to the existing 3 other Twitter widgets that already exist.
You make some good piints always.
Its just a tool and feature. Left alone twitter won’t solve it but maybe tlists and other app guys will.
Thanks Howard. I agree it’s a tool/feature whose benefits are directly related to what we do with it (there will be the Good, Bad, Ugly & Useless of lists).
Perhaps curation and filtering are the right levers to start with. Eventually, we’ll need some sorts of metrics on Lists,- a “List Analytics” business, anyone?
For e.g. traffic on Lists: who’s reading your Lists- do we know?
I’m bullish on lists. Example, this week I ditched the All Messages stream on StockTwits Desktop because signal/noise is no good compared to Suggested list, which is almost all signal. I am missing some good people on All Messages, but if they’re that good the rest of the community will find them for me.
I’m not entirely sure what to think about Twitter lists yet. I have been pondering creating one as well, but haven’t deployed my ideas beyond meatspace.As you know, I like to post Twitter news to StockTwits. I didn’t want to flood my Twitter stream, but there is A LOT of panty twisting over Twitter Lists this weekend. Everything from “Are Twitter lists the new blogrolls?” to people pissed at Mashable “Shame on You @Mashable. You’re Better Than This.” to list Spam “Spam Arrives In Twitter Lists” to general soul burning “Twitter is Great! Twitter Sucks! You’re Using Twitter Wrong!”.Whatever the final fate of Twitter Lists, they sure have become an instant touchstone. Which is good.=^.^=
I am with you. Twitter is just a communication tool. Period
Thanks for the rec Howard!
Unlike team, http://listorious.com has an “i” in it.
Ev always draws an analogy between ice cream and Twitter when questioned about it’s real utility, though I’m not a fan of that. For me, Twitter is no “ice cream” – it’s more like a business card or a personal site; not quite a resume though, everyone’s got a resume, similar to how everyone pretty much has a LinkedIn profile.
Anyone who’s very accomplished professionally always has some personal site up if you Google them, as well as a business card. Even among college students or freshly minted analysts though, you’ll still see a few of them wielding both. It demonstrates initiative and a willingness to get ahead by learning from others in that industry. That’s exactly how Twitter is shaping up to be, I think – it’s the ultimate networking tool for what you’re passionate about, like a real-time meetup.com.
That’s why I think it’s actually very fitting that Twitter is a broadcast medium – the few influence the many. Because that’s precisely how talent and ambition always works itself out in the long-run.
It’s hard for me to see how Twitter will ever detract “Joe the Plumber” away from Facebook. But that’s not something it should be ashamed of, instead it should start being very proud of that. And I think Twitter lists is an awesome step in that direction.
Facebook is flat and connected, like Thomas Friedman’s book.
Twitter is all social leverage.
I like the analogy but not sure its that simple. Thx for this
I like the analogy but not sure its that simple. Thx for this
Ev always draws an analogy between ice cream and Twitter when questioned about it's real utility, though I'm not a fan of that. For me, Twitter is no “ice cream” – it's more like a business card or a personal site; not quite a resume though, everyone's got a resume, similar to how everyone pretty much has a LinkedIn profile.
Anyone who's very accomplished professionally always has some personal site up if you Google them, as well as a business card. Even among college students or freshly minted analysts though, you'll still see a few of them wielding both. It demonstrates initiative and a willingness to get ahead by learning from others in that industry. That's exactly how Twitter is shaping up to be, I think – it's the ultimate networking tool for what you're passionate about, like a real-time meetup.com.
That's why I think it's actually very fitting that Twitter is a broadcast medium – the few influence the many. Because that's precisely how talent and ambition always works itself out in the long-run.
It's hard for me to see how Twitter will ever detract “Joe the Plumber” away from Facebook. But that's not something it should be ashamed of, instead it should start being very proud of that. And I think Twitter lists is an awesome step in that direction.
Facebook is flat and connected, like Thomas Friedman's book.
Twitter is all social leverage.
Thanks for the rec Howard!
Unlike team, http://listorious.com has an “i” in it.
I like the analogy but not sure its that simple. Thx for this
Ev always draws an analogy between ice cream and Twitter when questioned about it's real utility, though I'm not a fan of that. For me, Twitter is no “ice cream” – it's more like a business card or a personal site; not quite a resume though, everyone's got a resume, similar to how everyone pretty much has a LinkedIn profile.
Anyone who's very accomplished professionally always has some personal site up if you Google them, as well as a business card. Even among college students or freshly minted analysts though, you'll still see a few of them wielding both. It demonstrates initiative and a willingness to get ahead by learning from others in that industry. That's exactly how Twitter is shaping up to be, I think – it's the ultimate networking tool for what you're passionate about, like a real-time meetup.com.
That's why I think it's actually very fitting that Twitter is a broadcast medium – the few influence the many. Because that's precisely how talent and ambition always works itself out in the long-run.
It's hard for me to see how Twitter will ever detract “Joe the Plumber” away from Facebook. But that's not something it should be ashamed of, instead it should start being very proud of that. And I think Twitter lists is an awesome step in that direction.
Facebook is flat and connected, like Thomas Friedman's book.
Twitter is all social leverage.