Twitter Lists: Almost Doesn’t Count

Twitter is in the process of rolling out a long-awaited Lists feature. I wrote about the importance of social segmentation a few weeks ago and so it’s great to see that the folks at Twitter are keeping up with blog.jakerlevine.com. If you’re reading this, no thanks necessary - I’m fine with stock.

Segmenting the data we consume into ‘buckets’ is a useful feature for those of us suffering from information overload. In this way, for example, I can keep the data relevant to my job at TheLadders.com separate from the data relevant to my immediate social circle. From a productivity standpoint this makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, at 10am on a Tuesday when I’m trying to get up to speed on chatter in the online recruitment market, I would be forced to wade through comments on the latest episode of Gossip Girl. Similarly, when I’m craving that juicy nugget about Chuck’s outfit from last night’s episode, the last thing I want distracting me is an article on some recently released labor statistics. Let’s get our priorities straight.

However……while a built-in feature like Lists is a step in the right direction, Twitter (and many other equally guilty social web services) is missing a key ingredient of the successful social segmentation soup: segmented syndication.

The web, like the real world, is a big place. In the real world, we play different roles at different times. If I showed up to work with the same persona that I go out with on Saturday nights, I would likely have a hard time holding down steady employment. If I treated my girlfriend the same way I treat my co-workers I would likely have a hard time keeping a steady girlfriend. Needless to say, if I acted towards my roommate the same way that I act towards my girlfriend, I would lose all street cred.

Facebook ran into this problem a few years ago. And LinkedIn solved it for them. Given Facebook’s user base and core functionality, it became clear early on that it is not a suitable environment for professional networking. Facebook did not allow its users to finely segment data consumption and syndication (meaning the Jake I showed to my friends is the same Jake I showed to employers), and so it eventually ceded a significant (and high-end) market to another service. One could imagine a LinkedIn style professional networking tool built into Facebook: imagine having two profile pictures, two biographies, two sets of photo albums - one for your friends, and one for potential employers.

I’m not arguing that this was or would be possible, only that this example is representative of a general trend - that users beg for a social web that mirrors offline interaction, where they have the ability to express a complex and multidimensional personality, meant for different people at different times.

So what does segmented syndication look like? Let’s start with Lists. If I create a List called JakeGGFans, that includes only those friends who like watching Gossip Girl, wouldn’t it seem natural to be able to message that group exclusive of the wider audience? It would certainly spare some embarrassment. On the other hand, rather than bore my friends with the latest BLS survey, perhaps I might want to message @JakeTheLadders only those coworkers that might find the survey interesting.

With 20MM users, the ball is in Twitter’s court. But the longer they wait, the greater the chance of a LinkedIn competitor emerging that satisfies a desire for a new kind of social segmentation. Oh that’s right, Yammer.