Why Are Twitter Lists Bad? (Are Twitter Lists Really Bad?)

To be honest, I've never thought about a question such as "Why are Twitter lists bad?" before.

But when I did a bit of research, I stumbled upon incidents of trolls abusing Twitter lists to collate their targets or some third-party platforms using Twitter lists to create feeds outside Twitter itself.

These, fortunately, were years ago. But why are Twitter lists bad today? What might even be bad about them?

At first glance, they seem like a helpful tool to hide who you follow on Twitter without going private and curating your feed for specific content. In fact, Twitter lists can even be used for business-related purposes.

Well... Let me give you a bit of a perspective after leaving this article about more use cases of Twitter lists here:

The Time Commitment: Creating and Maintaining Lists

Setting up lists can be time-consuming, especially if you want to create multiple lists with specific criteria. And the work doesn't stop there!

• Ongoing Maintenance: As people join or leave your industry, change their focus, or simply become less active, your lists can become outdated. This means regular maintenance to keep them relevant.

• The Follow/Unfollow Game (on Lists): If you're using lists to track specific accounts you might want to follow or unfollow, managing both your main feed and your list can become cumbersome.

The Perception Problem: How Lists Can Be Misinterpreted

How you use your lists can send unintentional messages to other users:

• Exclusion: If you create a list of "top influencers" in your niche and someone isn't included, they might feel excluded or overlooked.

• "Cliques": Public lists can sometimes create a sense of "insider groups" or cliques, which can be off-putting to other users.

• "Monitoring": If you create a list specifically to track competitors, they might feel like you're excessively monitoring their activity.

The True Dark Side: Twitter Lists in the Wrong Hands

• Invading the Privacy or Targeting Individuals: Public Twitter lists are visible to anyone, meaning others can add you to lists without your consent. Being added to a public Twitter list could expose your account to a wider audience, not always for good reasons.

• Spam and Bot Accounts: Spam accounts might add you to lists to bait you into interacting with them or following their account. Likewise, bots may create automated lists with irrelevant or random groupings, making the feature feel cluttered and insincere.

When Twitter Lists Are Useful

Despite these potential drawbacks, Twitter Lists can be incredibly helpful in certain situations:

• Tracking News and Events: Create lists to follow key figures and sources during breaking news events.
• Organizing Industry Experts: Create lists of thought leaders in your field for easy access to their insights.
• Personalized Feeds: Create private lists for personal interests or hobbies.
• Benefit from Others: You can also search for Twitter lists and follow public ones, creating an alternative feed for yourself.

The Bottom Line

Twitter Lists can be a powerful organizational tool, but they're not a magic bullet for social media success.

Consider the time commitment, potential misinterpretations, and the limitations of their impact on visibility. Use lists strategically, but don't let them replace genuine engagement and content creation.