Ok, so Twitter Lists are now out and about- and starting to settle in to the Twitterverse.
The last 2 weeks have been filled with all sorts of comments. Good. Bad. A waste of time, a marketers dream.

So, if you were wondering what these Twitter Lists are all about – and my take on them, read on.

What’s a List?
A list is a collection of Twitter users that you can follow. You can create your own list of simply follow a list created by others. Let’s say you want to start following a list of Twitter users who love the Red Sox- here’s a pretty good start. Have a passion for red wine, golf, or chicken fingers? there’s a list for that.  And…. want to follow along what’s happening in social media, there are thousands of lists to follow…

What does this Mean?
Here’s my .02  First, I think it is going to mark the demise of  third-party directories like Twellow.com. Second, I think it’s a marketers dream. Are you Titleist, and want to get your message out to some golfers on Twitter- there’s a list to follow and begin to market to. This, of course is a slippery slope, so I’ll be interested to hear success (or failure) stories on this topic.

The Pros
- quick way to find some pretty interesting people and lists. Quick recommendation- check out Listorious and The New York Times Lists to start learning more. Warning- you could be on these sites for a while.
- Once you create your own lists, or see ones you like, Publish them throughout your network- your blog, twittter, facebook, and more.
-Insta-Credibility Factor. For newbies to Twitter, you can quickly find the posers. Twitter Lists does a pretty good job of verifying how “credible” you are. If you find someone with 1,000 followers and he/she is on 50 lists, that’s pretty good. If you see someone with 10,000 followers on 10 lists- avoid this person like the plague…
- Public and Private Lists- you have the ability to make your lists public or private, so that’s a nice option if you just want to see tweets from family members, your board, etc.
-I like that it brings people back to Twitter.com. It’s much easier to demonstrate to an audience, than overwhelm them with a screen shot of Tweetdeck.

The Cons
- Is this another thing I have to do online? Well, yes. Yes, you probably created a bunch of “Friends Lists” on Tweedeck or even on Facebook, and yes, you have to start all over again. It’s another list to maintain, kinda like the new lists/tagging features  you can create on Linkedin (but at an extra cost)
- Mobile? I haven’t seen or heard anything about the new lists feature catching up to mobile yet- have they?
- It’s a popularity contest. Well, it is, sort of, and it does feed the egos of some, or all of us here on Twitter.

What’s your take on them? Like ‘em, Love ‘em. Waiting for the next big thing to happen before diving in?