This slideshow is a more elegant follow up instructional guide to embedding Twitter List widgets into a Breaking News city site that I discussed in the previous article regarding building community news resource sites. You can see examples of Breaking News city sites for SF, LA, NYC, Seattle, London and many other cities listed on the right sidebars of these city sites.

Two weeks ago, we showed you how to build a dynamic community news resource in one hour on Twitter. Today we’ll show you how to use Twitter List widgets to build dynamic community news resource website that aggregate and display the best local Twitter feeds.

1. Best is to start with an existing Breaking News Network site.

2. First, build a Twitter List of the best local Twitter news feeds. Then build separate lists for Events, Sports, Shopping, Foodie, etc.

3. Configure each Twitter List with a widget at http://twitter.com/goodies/widget_list

4. Configure the appearance and display features

5. Configure the widget size for your Breaking News site or blog.

6. Embed the widget into the page of the Breaking News site using html cut & paste.

7. Breaking Seattle News.com has many of its categories using Twitter List widgets:

8. Breaking News sites are community resource websites that work complementary with their accompanying Twitter feeds:

9. This Community Engagement strategy positions the builder of these sites and Twitter feeds as a community media source.

Tony, the obvious benefit of Twitter Lists is to organize your Twitter stream into groups so you can focus Twitter conversations categorically. However, I see Lists as a key component on what makes Twitter a good will engine. Here are ten ways to use Twitter to build your personal brand by spreading good will:

1. Twitter Lists. Adding people you like and want to do business to your Twitter Lists is instant recognition to your network. It only takes 5 seconds per addition. Everybody wants to be on somebody’s list.
2. Reciprocate. If anybody adds you onto their list, reciprocate. Follow them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook if you aren’t already. Thank them via @ or DM. And add them to one of your lists if there is a category fit, or create a “Gratitude list” that is expressly for good will reciprocation.
3. Follow the Lists of Twitterers you want to connect with. They will see you and recognize that.
4. Retweets are also recognition. When anybody retweets your tweets, find a way to retweet their tweets back at them. Follow them if they are interesting because they already find you interesting. After all, that’s the basis of attraction in relationships.
5. Twitter Lists have made #followfriday redundant. Yet, I add those folks who #followfriday me onto the Gratitude List.
6. Use Listorious.com to find Lists you can leverage for business. For example, if you’re interested in finding all businesses on Twitter in Fremont CA, search for “fremont businesses” and you’ll find these Lists. Follow the List and follow all the businesses on that List to watch them.
7. Create an “IRL List” – all the people you know on Twitter that you have met In Real Life. At the very least, you’ll remind yourself that you met them!
8. Create Twitter Lists that your community can use. If you’re in a community based business (and many are) create categorical lists for your community, whether it is geographically based or industry based. See slideshow on how to build a community news resource in one hour. People in your community will follow community news.
9. Develop multiple Twitter accounts to expand your brand presence across different or new categories. If you’re in real estate, 1) maintain your personal account, 2) build a community news account and provide a good will community service, and 3) build a pristine real estate data and news feed that is spare on irrelevant chatter. You will build three types of networks, respectively: 1) those attracted to your personal feed; 2) community Tweeps; and 3) a Twitter feed that can be placed on others’ Twitter Lists because the content is pristine and targeted.
10. Don’t be hesitant to build a lot of Lists. If you develop multiple Twitter accounts, you get to build 20 more Lists for each account. Lists are branding engines. The more Lists you build, the more good will recognition you spread. The more recognition you give, the more you receive. Note: don’t be superficial building these Lists, be sure you have specific themes attractive to your readers.

Twitter lists will change how people network themselves into groups and geographies. Although the first lists will develop around social media (top 100s, etc.), they will eventually develop around organizations / civic groups, enterprises and geographies / neighborhoods. Once this happens, Twitter will evolve into a hyperlocal communication network or, a better term, media.

In categorical searches like finding the best Twitterers who cover the San Francisco food scene, Twitter Lists are far more powerful than using Twitter Search because the Lists filter Twitter feeds, and searches don’t.

Twitter is the only social networking application that facilitates individuals into building adhoc lists. LinkedIn and Facebook have their groups and fan pages but they require their participants to sign in. It takes an individual an hour to build a 200-person Twitter List in comparison to the days / weeks it takes to attain a 200-fan FB page. This will make Twitter Lists the prolific standard for organizing the social graph.

Although in beta testing now to a limited group, Twitter Lists will need three improved functions ( there a lot more minor ones) to become standard usage:

• Search function across lists.
• Ability to build lists by search across following/followers and automatic list creation. For example, I could build an instant list of Berkeley real estate agents by searching “Berkeley real estate” across my following, and clicking a presumed button called “Automatic List”.
• Ability to follow all those on other people’s lists like one can do on TweepML.com.

(Note: as of October 20, only a subset of Twitter users can see Twitter Lists)