It seems Twitter is divided over the new lists feature. Some feel the new lists are a way to exclude people, like Chris Brogan. Others think the lists are a game changer, including Robert Scoble and I happen to agree.

If you don’t know what lists are, Twitter recently added the ability to create a list and group people into those lists. It doesn’t change your timeline. You still see everyone’s updates. But the lists give you the ability to further segment you’re followers into, for a lack of a better term, folders. Works much like the lists on Facebook, actually. I don’t remember an uproar over those.

For me, Twitter lists are more inclusive, not less. It’s more about organization, readability and discoverability. I’m already following more people because of them, not less. Lists are game changing and now that the API is available we should start seeing lists appear in popular clients like Tweetie and Tweetdeck. That’s when things will get really interesting.

I totally understand where Chris is coming from on lists. His point is valid, that lists might exclude some people. But I think it all comes down to how you use them. So far my experience with lists has been great. Other than a few technical bugs, the lists are greatly improving my twitter experience.

I predict lists will be a driving force in Twitters next explosion in traffic. They are going to allow people to find more like minded folks to follow and interact with who will in turn create lists and introduce their followers to even more people. The feature itself is a pretty minor update but it’s added a whole new layer of “viral” to the site. Expect to see more about lists over the next several weeks. This is just getting started.