I think it is key to realize that groups in Tweetdeek, Seesmic, and others, and lists are the same thing. The big difference is that if the lists reside in Twitter proper, then they are then accessible from whichever client you choose. Right not I am stuck because Tweetdeck has not yet “freed” the groups that I created so that they will appear as lists in whatever client, web application, or Mobile application that I choose to use.

I think that Tweetdeck is slow to release list integration because they have the most to loose. Tweetdeck has a larger user base and as soon as groups are “freed” through list integration, you will be able to move back and forth between applications with your lists and Tweedeck could easily loose the early mover competitive advantage it built up through the time that people invested in creating their groups in Tweetdeck. For this reason I think that Tweetdeck knows that they must provide an excellent user experience for the list integration release.

Andrew

You pose interesting thoughts about where lists may go. I’m unsure of where I fall in the List discussion. Right now for me, it’s about exploring the personal benefits and the results are a bit mixed.

At first, I expected to gain little value from lists. However, as I continue to be frustrated with mediocre quality of iPhone Twitter apps, I started thinking of the value of using Twitter lists as a compensatory bridge, made up of different categories of folks I specifically want to keep track of on the go.

Of course, my feelings on this are mixed. I make extensive and almost exclusive use of TweetDeck on my PC, and having to keep 2 sets of lists is a pain (and if TD for iPhone gets on the ball and improves, I may be able to revert to using TD exclusively).

The second potential personal value is gaining exposure to interesting folks on other people’s lists I might not have encountered before. It’s not an ego thing, though, but one of curiosity to connect with new people.

Some of these folks are are folks who added me to their list and sparked my curiosity to check them out.

Might there be a class system that comes out of Twitter lists? Maybe…but with the world so segmented as it is now, I’m not sure if any but a few folks will generate that sort of clout to influence that way.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve had little curiosity to see what the big namer’s lists look like. But I have been highly curious about the folks in my “Twitter circle” (those in the inner circle and a few rings out).

Kathy

Thanks for your comment. Honestly I do not know whether a dual class will emerge, but I don’t think that any of the three things you mention are requirements for a class structure to exist.

Social classes usually exhibit an inequality of power, influence, authority, and access to resources. Issues of respect and interaction come as a result of the fact that class structure exists and those with the power have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. My point is that lists act to further reinforce these inequalities of power and influence as they exist today, making it more difficult for those who have not established influence to do so.

I mentioned that number of followers is a poor measure of true influence as is number of lists that one is on. Regardless it does factor into the equation in that they simply have the ability to reach more people. This doesn’t mean they can influence them it is also, and this is key, domain specific. Ashton Kutcher has very little influence in the domain of national security, but likely quite a bit more about matters of the entertainment industry.

Andrew

* People must unduly respect the opinions of the famous
* The famous must only interact with each other
* The have-nots must ignore the haves

Ashton Kutcher may have a million Twitter followers, but I’m not one of them, so he’s not influential from my POV. Does that mean he isn’t influential? It depends entirely on whether you’re personally influenced by him (or me).

Conversely, I only have 3,000 followers, but I have interactions with dozens of them on a daily basis. Among one another, we’re far more influential as a collective than Ashton Kutcher is as an external presence.

I do agree that lists have the capacity to be abused and manipulated by the same people who live and die by the numbers, but for the vast majority of users, lists are merely another way for them to organize their ever-more cluttered web experience.