How Journalists Can Use Twitter Lists

Twitter Lists just came out this month. This new feature will allow you to create and share lists of Twitter followers in your account. This will also create a stream of those individuals. This is great for the individual who wants to categorize users to read topic specific tweets.

Besides allowing you to create a list of Twitter users you want to share, you can make private lists to keep up with important contacts.

For journalists, this new feature offers a number of ways to monitor your sources and discover new ones. It could even help you keep up with the competition or interact with collaborators.

Here are 10 ways journalists can benefit from Twitter Lists:

1. You could create a list of the reporters or personalities at your news organization and you could share it with the public. This will help publicists and readers contact the right person at your company.
2. You can use a private list organize your sources by beat or topic. You might even want to keep a list of people you've interviewed, in case you need to follow up with them in the future.
3. For writers you compete with (internally or at another publication), you might want to create a private list. This will keep you up-to-date about what they are writing about and possibly discover some of their sources.
4. You could keep a list of industry experts. People working in the industry you are researching might clue you in to new story ideas and are always willing to provide a quote or opinion. Industry insiders are often the whistle blowers that can clue you into the big story and they can provide the validation you need to write with authority.
5. You can create lists for events or product launches, based around hash tags. This will allow you to keep up with the latest announcements and information available. Hash tags often center around a certain topic, industry, or conference.
6. If you work for a national publication, it might help to create geographic lists for sources in specific markets. When you need a local spin on a story, you’ll have a readily available list of local businessmen or other individuals to choose from.
7. If you write for more than one publication or on more than one beat. You can channel the conversations you see at any given time to just that news organization or beat, respectively. This can help reduce the distraction that Twitter can be.
8. If they left them public, you can use the lists of other journalists to discover their sources. Knowing who your competition is following can help you better identify the public relations professionals that really do provide good leads.
9. Similarly you can look at the lists of industry professionals, to discover those whom they follow. By noticing similarities between the lists of individuals in the same field, you’ll easily identify the known industry experts. You’ll improve the validity of your information by referencing those top names in the industry.
10. Knowing that individuals often follow their competitors, you might want to view lists created by those individuals you interview and identify competitors they follow. If you can include a quote from your subject’s competition, you’ve just made your article more balanced.