Follow entire Twitter lists with one click
I discovered TweepML a while back, it’s a great tool if you want to quickly follow a group of people on twitter who all share the same area of expertise or interest as you.
The site has now added the ability to follow all members of a Twitter list as opposed to following the list itself. As far as I’m aware it’s the only tool out there which allows you to do this.
You can either whack in the URL of the desired Twitter list or you can create a TweepML from an existing list. If you choose the latter you can create a button making it easy for visitors to your blog to follow everyone on the list with one click.
I tested out the new feature using John Carnell’s Third Sector All-Stars Twitter list. Click the button below and you can follow the entire list in seconds (there’s a few different buttons to choose from):
As soon as I get Third Sector Blog launched I’ll be adding a TweepML button which will allow readers to follow all the blog contributors with just one click.
I’d be interested to hear what others make of this new TweepML feature…Where would you add the button? Is bulk-following ethical?
Nice find! I always thought Twitter lists needed this functionality as the lists themselves can be lost if you don’t check them regularly. I think it is a good thing generally, makes follow management easier. I wish Twitter had a function to see who you follow in common when you go to a user’s page (if that makes sense) as that would be useful as a peer recommendation of people, as it were.Definitely will be misused by spammers but such is the online life! Great find. Would be interesting to see how it works out for you
Thanks Ross, this look very handy – I’d love to see it being used to allow me to follow all delegates of specific hashtag conferences (e.g those tweeting from #newsrw last week). What really annoys me are these self-pepetuating / generating Twibes which add themselves to my Listed folder everytime someone else ( and random to me) adds *themselves* to it. I have am ‘Listed’ over 100 times in things like Twibes-PublicRelations despite never having added myself? I think this looks disengenous. I prefer it when people know me and want to recommend or List me, and not by an automaton.Rant over there ;)So as long as the ‘follow this list’ button doesn’t create a replica list each time (as Twibes seems to do by default), I’m all for it ;)Rob
Agree re: Twibes by the way. Very VERY annoying, seems like you are spamming to get listed. Anyone found a way of stopping this?
I agree Roberto, it seems to nicely finish off the functionality of twitter lists.Love your idea of creating a TweepML for an event/conference Rob.If/when twitter add premium (paid-for) accounts we may well see bulk-following functionality become part of the core site.
Looks very useful. I expect I would indeed find it handy and use it for following attendees at events I go to or specific groups of tweeters. I like the sound of it more if the lists are small (say under 30); when considered in the context of very large lists (50+) I start to feel uneasy about it – it has a more spammy or unethical feel as some other commenters have suggested, and I personally wouldn’t feel right in using it in those circumstances (would feel I was being ‘lazy’ – as if I’m not putting in the legwork!)
Hi Ross,I guess where this tool will be useful is if a user is new to twitter – to get to know and find who in the charity sector is already tweeting. Enabling them to get engaged with twitter more easily than say, ‘fumbling’ around in the dark following celebrities who just talk about what they ate for brekfast ;-)I agree with Damian above that people should look to follow people and get followers organically though, rather than perhaps wanting to and relying on lists to find new follows/ attract new followers. So small, succint lists would work well as opposed to lists 50+
You’re both right, there’s something more intimate, less spammy, about smaller lists. I think these lists could be a good jumping off point for people starting out with Twitter. I imagine a fair few people, upon first joining Twitter, stare blankly at their screen, aimlessly follow a few celebs and then give up completely. By following a list of say 50 key people in their area of interest/expertise they can get off to a good start with Twitter.
…and that’s how I began, used a couple of searches for "third sector", saw who was tweeting about my issues, and then began (as Damien points out) the real legwork to listen, engage, build and collaborate. Big lists shouting ‘follow me’ and these nuisance ‘Twibes’ somehow feel like the antithesis to Twitter and community-building. You want automatic lists to be like following a friends’ recommendation; subtle, specfic and (you may disagree) lists that prevent people from adding *themselves* (that’s where the self-promotion and spamming starts.