Extemp Central on Twitter
by Corey Alderdice
If you haven’t heard, Twitter is kind of a big deal. With an estimated 18 million active users by the end of the 2009, it seems safe to say that the Tweet Machine is no passing fad.
Last week, Twitter began rolling out the wide release of its new Lists function. The Twitter Blog describes the feature in short:
The idea is to allow people to curate lists of Twitter accounts. For example, you could create a list of the funniest Twitter accounts of all time, athletes, local businesses, friends, or any compilation that makes sense.
Lists are public by default (but can be made private) and the lists you’ve created are linked from your profile. Other Twitter users can then subscribe to your lists. This means lists have the potential to be an important new discovery mechanism for great tweets and accounts.
Your friends at Extemp Central have encouraged you to both become our Fan on Facebook and follow our tweets. The lists capability provides an even better reason to join us on Twitter: keeping up on news and cultivating your files. Currently, Extemp Central is following nearly 70 magazines, websites, policy journals, think tanks and institutions to help you better understand the news of the world each day. The lists are subdivided in specific areas to better address your needs:
@extemp/politics
@extemp/education
@extemp/entertainment
@extemp/policy-journals
@extemp/think-tanks
@extemp/science-and-tech
@extemp/sports
@extemp/international
@extemp/united-states
We really, really want your help in making this an outstanding utility for extempers. Have a look at the sources Extemp Central is currently following. From there, send us an email or leave a comment on this post on any additional websites, individuals, publications or organizations that would be useful to add to the list. You are even welcome to suggest any additional lists that we should create or follow from other users.
If you are new to Twitter or just thinking about joining (which you should!), Mashable (@mashable) has an excellent online guide to using Twitter.
Today’s R&D covers the upcoming Twitter initial public offering (IPO). This means that shares in the company are going to be be open for the public to purchase.