Organize by Topic or Theme

• One of the main benefits of using lists in Twitter is to organize the people you follow based on topics or themes. Placing a group of people talking about a similar topic in one list helps you easily engage with this theme-oriented community. Include people who interact with one another using the "@username" public reply format as these people are engaging in back-and-forth conversations around this topic. The "@username" is placed within a tweet to notify the person of his inclusion in a conversation.
  
  

Organize by People and Interactions

• Another strong method of organization is to place people in lists based on your personal interactions with them. For example, if you attend a conference and meet 10 new friends, place them in the same list so you can glance at their dialogues and engage them in conversations. You may wish to separate your face-to-face interactions from your virtual community as well by placing them in different lists based on your relationship. Your childhood friends should not be included with your professional lists, as the conversations may be disjointed and difficult to read in the same timeline.
  
  

Using a Third-Party Application

• Many third-party applications are designed to make list interaction easier and more efficient. Third-party applications, such as TweetDeck.com, HooteSuite.com or Seesmic.com are built by individual programmers and are designed to alter the Twitter API, or application program interface, in a user-friendly manner. The application interfaces are structured in multiple columns and allow you to add one list per column and scan your lists with ease, unlike the Twitter website, which is based on a one-column layout.
  
  

Organizing Your Column Structures

• When using a third-party application, place your columns across your monitor in an order that allows you to engage with the conversations in a way that makes them easier to understand. Place a column on the left side of your screen that you engage with often, such as the column that lists your "@Mentions" timeline that indicates you've been included in a tweet. Add your most frequently read list next to this column and add lists based on the frequency of your engagement with the list's community. Grouping similar themed columns is also a good practice, as your mind will already be engrossed in the topic of one list and switching to the next column containing a similar list will be easier.