Twitter has changed it’s Suggested User section list by creating 20 user categories.
This change was made to introduce new Twitter users to a broader base and group them by interest/categories.
Josh Elman from Twitter explains in the Official Twitter Blog:
Today we’re making the first of many changes here to help people ease into the twitterverse by finding and following accounts that interest them.
A Golden Ticket?
If you’ve ever followed anyone who was suddenly added to the previous Suggested Users list, their follower count skyrocketed hours after the new designation. Since there are more categories, the follower count increase might not be as steep but they will still take off like wildfire.
What are some possible effects of this change?
Just looking at the Politics category, being listed could have a make or break effect on politicians. Twitter follower numbers matter big time as Twitter is now one of the largest political organizing tools.
To see the possible impact, look at Carly Fiorina’s account. As of right now, she has 231,655 followers and is campaigning for the US Senate race in California. Fiorina is currently listed in the Politics Suggested User list. Although she has first has to compete for the Republican nomination, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer only has 18,432 followers and is not on the Politics list. This could be a huge factor, but we don’t know how frequently the lists will change.
The other high impact Suggested User category is the Staff Pics for Haiti category. It’s now easier than ever to find top tweeting sources on the ground in Haiti to help support the crisis after last week’s massive earthquake.
How do the lists work
We know a little bit about how the lists work and the way they are formed from the Twitter blog post:
These lists will be refreshed frequently as the algorithms identify new users who should be suggested in these lists and some that are not as engaging to new users will be removed.
These are the new categories with links to the actual lists:
* Art & Design
* Books
* Business
* Charity
* Entertainment
* Family
* Fashion
* Food & Drink
* Funny
* Health
* Music
* News
* Politics
* Science
* Sports
* Staff Picks
* Staff Picks for Haiti
* Technology
* Travel
* Twitter
What are your thoughts on the Suggested User change? Is this a good direction?
Related Post:
- Review: “open” Listorious vs. “closed” new Twitter suggestion list by Robert Scoble (@scobleizer)