Twitter’s ‘Follow Recommendations’ lets you determine who you suggest to new users

According to Techcrunch, a secret Twitter feature called ‘Follow Recommendations’ allows you to build a customized list of suggested followers for those who sign up via your profile on the service. As of now, Twitter recommends a basic list for new users based on internal algorithms.

The feature was outed by Grace Chu Lee, of Twitter’s Business Development team, in a Tweet which was then pulled from the site. This new method allows you to create a list of recommended followers that people see on Twitter.com when they begin following you.

According to the presentation above, you simply create a list of the Twitter users that you would like to recommend, then include the hashtag #WelcomeToTwitter in the list’s description. This way, when new Twitter users sign up by following you, they get a list of recommended people to follow curated by you.

As Techcrunch mentions, it seems as if this service would be best employed by those accounts with enough followers that they essentially become a conduit for new users of Twitter. It is unlikely that the average Twitter user has enough pull that they essentially generate Twitter users just because people want to follow them. Unless it’s your Mom and she just wants to see what you’re up to. Hi Mom.