Monthly Archives: October 2008
Twitter Tools Overview Part 2
Fact – there are a lot of tools and applications for Twitter out there with more and more being created each day. It’s exciting times for the platform and it seems that most users are still in flux about what applications help provide the most efficient user experience.
As a follow up to my previous post on popular Twitter tools, I wanted to call attention to a few others you may find useful in helping make your interaction with the site more efficient.
Google Alerts for Twitter! An easy way to track keywords or URLs being tweeted about in the Twittersphere. It even tracks shortened or tiny URLs, making it a nice tool for brand and conversation monitoring.
Another URL shortening tool with the added bonus of allowing you to track how many times your URL is being clicked on. A very good point is made in this Twurl explanation, noting that we previously had no method of tracking click-thrus on URLs we post on various sites that utilize some form of micro-blogging or “status updates” such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Though the tool is in an early development stage, it’s great to see yet another step forward for actionable measurement with social media.
An excellent, simple tool that categorizes various Twitter users according to their expertise, profession, interests or whatever other data is in a user’s profile. Again, all the more important to make sure you take time to make the most of your Twitter profile! In addition, Twellow also provides quick links to a user’s other social media sites if the user has input that information.
A tool that allows you to see which of your friends know each other. Heads up, that it does take some time to calculate (3 min. or so).
A nice tool for creating private Twitter groups. Everything Twitter explains the purpose of GroupTweet more in-depth with this post. I really like the ability to tweet multiple group users at once and can see how this would be really useful for communications within various departments or group brainstorming sessions where not all meeting members are physically in the office.
Last, but not least, Upright Communications provides this post about Twitterquette, outlining simple do’s and don’ts to help make your Twitter efforts worthwhile.
Happy Tweet’n,
Scott
Beyond the Tweet – How to Effectively Use Twitter
You recently heard about Twitter.
After some encouragement from a friend or co-worker you opted to hop over and sign up. You poked around the Web and found some ideas for setting up your profile. You made your first tweet and discovered that it’s as easy as it looks. You now haven’t logged into your account for a week because A) you’re not sure what to do with the site or B) you view it as just another tool that you have to monitor and check.
How Should I Use Twitter?
Hop over to Dosh Dosh’s post on 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter. The author, Maki, provides an excellent overview about the various uses of the site. Whether you’re looking to direct traffic, improve two-way customer engagement or simply network and make new friends and contacts, Twitter can help.
How Do I Use Twitter Efficiently?
Active users know Twitter can be a major time suck (but a good one!). That’s why there are a host of applications and widgets to help make the site an efficient part of your daily communications. Here’s a brief overview of a few different Twitter tools that may help you out.
Simple – both sites take long URLs and shorten to a manageable size. This is key if you want to share a link in your tweet that happens to be really long. Remember, Twitter only allows 140 characters per Tweet. Every letter and space counts.
Add this to your Facebook profile or page and you’ll be able to see all of your follower’s updates as well as tweet without ever leaving Facebook.
The Twitter search engine. As simple as Google – pick a word or phrase and search away. This is a great way to monitor your brand or find other people with similar interests to follow and connect with.
Currently in public beta mode, Tweet Deck aims to break down the abundance of information you receive through tweets from followers into more manageable bite-size information.
Enables you to see the hot topics being tweeted and who’s doing the tweeting.
My favorite! Twhirl is an excellent desktop application that makes using Twitter incredibly easy and efficient. From Twhirl, you can see all tweets, easily separate replies and direct meesages, post short URLs, tweet photos to twitpic, connect to multiple accounts including FriendFeed and quickly search the Twittersphere with Twitter Search or TweetScan. Seem like a lot? Michael Maritime did this good video tutorial to explain using Twhirl.
Time to Grade!
Once you’ve spent some time on Twitter, see how you match up with others! The good folks over at HubSpot who I linked to in a previous post, have set up twitter.grader.com. It’s also a great way to discover the Twitter Elite.
Enjoy,
Scott
