If you’re unaware, I co-tweet for Chicago Bites on Twitter. The conversation on the account centers on Chicago’s vibrant food scene, what people have for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and where they should eat. Over the last year and a half, I’ve worked to build a focused list of foodies, restaurants, PR folk, restaurateurs, chefs, concierges, cooks, bakers, cupcake fiends, critics, food bloggers and media people. A lot of time and energy has gone into finding and curating the list, and I feel it’s been integral to the success of Chicago Bites on Twitter.

This week Twitter lists were rolled out to a subset of accounts, allowing some to a get a jump on segmenting the people they follow into meaningful groupings. With lists, people can switch easily between friends, work, family, locations, and interests. It also means that professionals can divvy up people into market segments, suppliers, etc.

My first instinct is to zero in how this tool can be used to build the Chicago Bites account. In the past, I’ve searched for Twitter accounts that are related to mine and sifted through the following/followers on those accounts to see what I may be missing. Now Twitter has made it easier to raid for accounts that have a quality/interest/locality that’s desirable. It’s true that lists can be made private, but that hasn’t stopped people from making lists public. I don’t think most understand what’s revealed through lists.

I’ve enjoyed going through the lists that competitors and fans have created and using them to fill in gaps and to see how the account is categorized. In turn, I have created public lists for Chicago Bites that provide a value-add for followers as well as giving them another reason to pay attention to the account. I also feel that lists can be a way of rewarding followers by elevating their visibility. However, I’m concerned about creating public lists that fritter away the competitive advantage and hard work I’ve put into gathering people.

For the Chicago Bites account, this means creating lists of area restaurants and chefs who tweet. That information is public and easy to discover for a determined searcher. It also means creating a public list to replace the Follow Friday meme, a trend I sincerely hope others follow. However, a public list of our core audience won’t be in the offing. There’s no compelling reason for us to share.

Twitter continues to add functionality to the community, but I recommend carefully thinking through what a new feature could reveal. It can be tricky to build and operate a transparent community without diminishing the value you provide.

Got thoughts on Twitter lists? Leave a comment or give me a shout-out on Twitter!