Twitter's hard-core users, mostly men, tend to size up fellow microbloggers by examining the length of their... follower lists. That's what they did, at least, until celebrities started dominating Twitter. Now a new yardstick excites the geeks: Twitter lists.

Twitter, you see, has created a "list" feature which it is testing on a small fraction of its userbase. Lists are collections of accounts, like "College friends" or "Work sites." They're also a new way to keep score: One writer did a random sampling of lists, and has created a new Twitter ranking, based on who appeared on the most lists, which restores geeks (sorta) to their rightful place atop the Twitter food chain. Said geeks — including "#1 individual" Robert Scoble (above) — are, of course, thrilled about this.

And so it is that the new media recycles the status obsessions of the old. How refreshing.

(Pic: Scoble, by Thomas Hawk)