Twitter lists have rolled out, and there is already a lot of conversation surrounding the feature. Like many, I think that lists will be a big step forward for Twitter in helping to corral conversations and mine the knowledge of subject-area experts. Combined with search and following, lists provide another vector for contextualizing information on the network.

Much of the early discussion on Twitter lists has focused on aspects of the social capital that is granted to users that find themselves placed on numerous lists. Already, there are dozens, or even hundreds, of users that can boast of being on more than 1,000 lists. Declarations of listings being the new followings are pouring down from the rafters, and indeed there are clear social consequences to being singled out individually as having some characteristic that earns you a spot on such a list.

But while I have so often before been happy to theorize to my heart’s content, in the case of lists I wanted to try something more proactive. I am going to embark on a project to monitor the most-followed lists and see what insights can be drawn from their movements. Taking inspiration from that list of lists that has attempted to draw meaning out of the chaos of the market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, I decided to create a Twitter Lists Index of 30 entries.

Twitter List Index Nov 2

The Twitter Lists Index will be compiled daily by me. The list shall consist of the 30 most-followed lists on Twitter, beginning with the most-followed and descending to the 3oth most-followed. In addition to the number of followers that a list has, the number of users that it itself follows will be included, as well as the username of the creator of the list and any relevant link to an official blog or other social media presence.

The means of compiling the list shall be subject to change and improvements moving forward. I have used a combination of sources for the inaugural Twitter Lists Index, including a script from Vobios and figures from Listorious. In all cases I have referred to list pages on Twitter to get the most up-to-date follower numbers. Obviously, these can change over time.

I’m quite interested to see what happens with Twitter Lists, and have a lot of other thoughts to share about the early batch of influential Twitter Lists. Let me know what you think about the subject in the comments, and please consider following me at @hornokplease.