How to get around the Twitter algorithm

If you're like me, you probably hate the Twitter algorithm. You know, the one that decides what tweets you see on your timeline based on some mysterious criteria. The one that shows you tweets from people you don't follow, or tweets that are hours or days old. The one that buries the tweets from your favorite accounts or topics under a pile of irrelevant noise.

Well, I have a solution for you: Twitter Lists. Twitter Lists are a way to create your own custom timelines based on the accounts or topics you choose. You can make as many lists as you want, and they will only show you the tweets from the accounts you add to them. No more algorithm messing with your feed!

Here's how to set up a Twitter List on mobile:

• Go to your profile
• Tap on Lists.
• Tap on the plus icon in the lower right corner to create a new list.
• Give your list a name and a description (optional).
• Tap on Create.
• Tap on Add members to start adding accounts to your list. You can search by username or browse by category.
• Tap on Done when you're finished adding accounts.

On your computer you can add people to Twitter lists on a web browser by following these steps:

1. Go to the Twitter website and log in.
2. Click "More" then “Lists” from the menu at the side.
3. Click the “New List” icon at the top.
4. Fill out the Name, Description (optional), and set the list to either be Public or Private.
5. Click “Next”.
6. Click “Add” on the Suggested accounts that pop up if they are relevant. If not, click “Done”.
7. To add people to your list, click on their username on any of your existing Twitter streams and click “Add To List”.

To add people you are following to your list I find it easiest to the following:

• go to https://twitter.com/YOUR_TWITTER_NAME_HERE/following
• Click on the username of the person you want to add to your list, , click on the three dots, select Add/remove from Lists, and then choose the List you want to add them to

Not going to lie, it's very tedious and time-consuming. You have to do this for every single person you want to add. Why can't there be a faster and easier way to do this? Like a drag-and-drop feature or a bulk selection option. At this point in the tire fire that is Twitter, this isn't likely to improve. I used the opportunity to go through my Following list and unfollow accounts that don't tweet much or lately and the ones I've lost interest in. Then I added to my new List the ones I really don't want to miss. Then, slowly when I have some slack time, I add more.

The plus side of all this tediousness is that, looking at the posts on my new List, I'm seeing posts from accounts I've forgotten about and didn't even know they are still tweeting! That, my friends, is why the algorithm sucks.

That's it! You can now access your list by going back to the Lists tab and tapping on it. You can also pin your list to your home screen for easy access by tapping on the pin icon next to it.

You can create as many lists as you want, and edit or delete them anytime. You can also make your lists public or private, and follow other people's lists if they are public.

Twitter Lists are a great way to customize your Twitter experience and avoid the annoying algorithm. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

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