(If I could edit my original post, I'd change "better off" to "should also". I didn't mean to say that the use of lists and an algorithmic news feed is an either-or proposition.)
I agree with you, and think your examples from fb and G+ are compelling. Anything that adds entropy for the user is a hard-if-not-impossible sell. In reflecting on all this, I realized I like lists because they make twitter useful. News feeds, by contrast, make social media entertaining. So: where do the twain meet? I'd suggest two models: "smart" lists and curated lists.
A real world example of smart lists would be feedly. When I add an RSS feed to my account, feedly suggests a category for it. I'd say the suggested categories are accurate 80%+ of the time.
If twitter were to implement this so when you follow someone twitter automatically suggests a list you could add the person to, it would both benefit the follower (I have topic-based lists I can look at, and I didn't have to do anything!) and the person being followed (hey, I got a new follower!).
Curated lists could be straight up useful (list-lover that I am, I subscribe to some other users' lists). With the advent of Moments, it's clear twitter is open to curation; how about encouraging individual to provide curated lists?
I don't think that twitter will go the way of focusing on lists, but I think there could be significant value in simply making lists a bit more prominent.
I agree with you, and think your examples from fb and G+ are compelling. Anything that adds entropy for the user is a hard-if-not-impossible sell. In reflecting on all this, I realized I like lists because they make twitter useful. News feeds, by contrast, make social media entertaining. So: where do the twain meet? I'd suggest two models: "smart" lists and curated lists.
A real world example of smart lists would be feedly. When I add an RSS feed to my account, feedly suggests a category for it. I'd say the suggested categories are accurate 80%+ of the time. If twitter were to implement this so when you follow someone twitter automatically suggests a list you could add the person to, it would both benefit the follower (I have topic-based lists I can look at, and I didn't have to do anything!) and the person being followed (hey, I got a new follower!).
Curated lists could be straight up useful (list-lover that I am, I subscribe to some other users' lists). With the advent of Moments, it's clear twitter is open to curation; how about encouraging individual to provide curated lists?
I don't think that twitter will go the way of focusing on lists, but I think there could be significant value in simply making lists a bit more prominent.