Of course I know lists can/will be gamed. That's why I put "at the moment" and "that will change and evolve."

More importantly, the only folks wringing their hands over this issue are people over-obsessed with vanity and perceived influence.

As I said above, "Enjoy the feature for what it can be for you."

You've been reading too much Chris Brogan.

The follower count has always been a dubious way to gauge whether someone has influence or is worth following. We all know it's incredibly easy to manipulate those follower counts and 75% of the "followers" are either bots or folks who don't give attention anyway.

Lists solves that problem in my book.

Am I inclined to think that someone is more authoritative on a topic or in a community because they are on a number of different lists? Yes, because it's a more organic way (at the moment) of issuing something like pagerank or quality score. Of course that will change and evolve just as Twitter continues to change and evolve.

Don't forget, following someone is an exclusionary act itself. So, having that number of followers and followings can be seen as trying to prop up the strawman of an A List if you go down that path.

So, stop worrying and love the bomb. Enjoy the feature for what it can be for you.

One example... I'm using it now to type this (and you are using it to read this): GMail.  Launched April 1, 2004. 

Wrong.

It's about community and trust.

If I ask for a good place to buy a uke, I'll trust your recommendation b/c I know you and I know that you are really passionate about that topic.

If someone I don't know sends me a DM or an @ message with a suggestion and an affiliate link, I'm going to have to do my homework and see who they are and if they are really passionate about something or just trolling keywords on Summize.

The question that needs to be asked isn't "if it's ok to use affiliate links on Twitter?" (of course it is), the question should be "WHEN is it ok to use affiliate links on Twitter?"

Sam

Awesome.

Reading FeedFront on my Kindle now... looks great!

Sam

All links are affiliate links. Some end up generating immediate monetary compensation for the referrer and some end up generating long term compensation via attention, gained reputation or other trust.

The Great Molander was right... affiliate marketing doesn't "scale." :)

Woohoo! Go NC!

Oh...wait.

Dammit.

Well, I'm precinct chairperson now but maybe I need to speed up that run for Governor thing.

My game changer still pwns the Sony Reader. Get a Kindle, Mike. You do need to have a Kindle b/c the backlit iPhone/Touch kills your eyes over time unlike the Kindle (not backlit like a real book).

You can ge those Google Books on the Kindle in a few clicks.

And Twitter rules exist! Kurkal is wrong!!!111!!

Great show, guys. Really enjoying these :)

Sam