Here’s a real question that I received on Twitter some time ago:
“How do you handle following 1k+ people? I find that beyond 30 I lose my bearings…”
This is a question that I seem to get a lot, so I thought I’d share my response here:
Different people would have different practices, but there are two things that I often suggest to people who are looking at following a number of people on Twitter.
Twitter Follow Management Tips
- Make use of Twitter Lists! Twitter lists come in handy for following a number of people. This is a great way to filter your stream based on certain categories that you decide on your list. Through lists, you only need to skim your Twitter stream and if you have time to delve in to specific subjects/interests, you go in to your lists. You can organise your lists by types of people (colleagues, friends, family, people met at X conference, etc), by subject matter (nonprofit technology, products, etc), or by other factors (people who list you, people who Retweet you, etc). Some of these lists can be created using tools like Twitilist. But, I find that the best way is to create most of my lists manually.
- Use Twitter Applications – both on your desktop and on your smart phone. Twitter apps can help to filter your updates and only get the most recent posts on your stream, then the rest, you just follow your lists, hash tags, search terms, DMs, @ replies, etc. Some of my favourite Twitter apps include: HootSuite (especially great for multiple Twitter account management) and the native Twitter app. I’ve also used Tweetdeck for a while. I’m sure a lot of people would have different suggestions too. Try them out and see which one suits your style the best.
What are your Twitter Follow Management Tips?
How many accounts do you follow on Twitter? How do you manage it? Do you use lists and apps?
