Twitter Lists

Twitter has rolled out Twitter Lists for organizing the people you follow into manageable lists.  Announced a few weeks ago and still in beta, the feature enables Tweeters to create both public and private lists of people they are following.

Twitter Lists: A Welcome New Feature

As we wrote a while back, as you follow more and more people on Twitter, it can be difficult to keep up with your friends and favorite tweeters.  The Twitter List feature allows users to create both public and private lists from their followers list.

While @DallasMarketing is not included in the beta, we have tried out the new feature on an account that did receive the invite and anxiously await the arrival of the new feature for the Twitter masses.

How do Twitter Lists Work?

If you were invited to participate in the Twitter Lists beta, upon logging in to your Twitter account, you will see a banner announcing the new feature.

Twitter Lists are created simply by clicking on the “Create A New List” button, naming the list and then designating it as public or private.

Next, you add some tweeps to the list.  For us, we envision a buddy list that is private for friends and family and then some public lists on our favorite topics – marketing and social media, of course.

Other Twitter List Features

Under Search, a list of your Twitter lists has been added.

Next to the “following” and “followers” numbers a new “listed” count has been added to display how many Twitter lists you have been added to.

When viewing someone else’s Twitter page, clicking on the Listed link displays tabs showing the (public) Twitter Lists following that user and another tab showing which Twitter Lists that user is following.

Another Twitter popularity contest?  Noted.  But, overall, Twitter Lists will enhance the tweeting process and make engaging with like-minded others a much simpler task.

By now most everyone has heard that more than 60% of US

Twitter users fail to return the following month. But, how about the graying of Twitter?

Twitter Demographics

Citing comScoreMatrix, eMarketer recently published a Twitter Demographic breakdown that shows the largest percentage of tweeters are age 25 – 54.

So, 45-54 year olds are the most likely to visit Twitter.

Guess that means you can forget those Mother’s Day cards for Mom and Grandma – just send them a tweet.

Follow Dallas Marketing Services on Twitter.
You follow, we follow back.
Twitterific.

Apparently Twitter needed a Wingman to answer to the most common question of the Twitterverse, “How is Twitter going to make money?”

The Twitter Wingman

According to Wired’s Danny Dumas and Steven Leckart, Twitter is introducing the Wingman, a handheld, pager-like device for all things Twitter on the go.   So Tweeps, give it a look and, of course, then tweet about it.

Follow Dallas Marketing Services on Twitter.
You follow, we follow back.
Twitterific.

Micro-blogging platform Plurk is a social journal that puts “your life, on the line.”

A timeline that is.  Plurkers add plurks (up to 140 character updates) to their Plurk timeline via text, instant messaging or the web.  The timeline can then be viewed and commented on by other Plurkers that have been granted access.

So, about now you have to be thinking -“Oh, it’s Twitter with a timeline.”

Sort of.   Plurk, like Twitter, is a free social networking and micro-blogging service.  But, a look at The Plurk Rule Book sheds light on the differences pretty quickly, such as:

• “Only add REAL friends to your friends list” & “Limit your friends list to your closest buddies” (as opposed to collecting as many Twitter followers as possible)

• “Try not to plurk more than 30 times a day – it’s annoying” (Oh, is it ever)

Plurks can be:

• Qualified with color-  -coded words for visual expression of thoughts (thinks, feels, etc.)
• Submitted freestyle without qualifiers – the Plurk FAQs says this is “great for older or more expressive users.”
• Simple plurks or Advanced plurks.   Advanced plurks can use additional options such as being sent to a specific segment of plurkers.
• Responded to by other plurkers with the responses nested in the plurk on the timeline, similar to blog comments

Text links can be added to plurks by simply typing the URL followed by the desired text in paranthesis – example:  http://dallasmarketingservices.com (A great source for free marketing ideas) would result in:  A great source for free marketing ideas.  Plurk automatically converts a URL that ends with .gif, .jpg or .png into a thumbnail of the image and adds the thumbnail to your timeline.

Like other social networks, Plurk provides the ability to add friends, fan other users and create groups called cliques.   Plurk also has a Plurk widget that can be added to a blog or website to display your latest Plurk activity.

Privacy settings include timeline visibility by friends only, FOF – friends of friends, or the world.   Plurk recommends only using the public settings if “you are over 18 and understand the risks that come with sharing your lifestream with people you may not know.”

Plurk was launched in May 2008 and has a growing, loyal community.   Find out more from the Plurk FAQs or sign up and start plurking today.