I Have Twitter, What Now?
Now that you’ve set up Twitter and are friends with agentgenius and I, let’s take the next step. You know how to go car shopping and you have an idea of what you need, but the bottom line is that you need something with wheels that drives- you may be prepared for 340hp or you may really only need a simple sedan. This brings us to Twitter applications and what program you open on your computer to access Twitter. Pick a car that works for you and gets you from point A to point B.
Web Application
You can go to twitter.com and twit directly from there- it’s fast and easy. There are limitations though, mainly with how the messages appear and it is difficult to see their order.
Snitter Application
Snitter is the first application I used- I didn’t like on the Web App that I couldn’t see which messages were directed at me from the general twits from my friends. Snitter works on Mac & PC but on my PC froze frequently or would simply forget to check for updates, but at least it ran on its own web browser.
On most applications, some universal symbols are used like “@” which you click on a person’s avatar and you’ll write a public message that specifically addresses that user (in applications, it will make it a different color to that person so they can see it easily). The heart symbol means you’re making that specific twitter message a “favorite” and by doing so, you can access it later. People will explain in the comments the benefits of favoriting twits…
Twhirl Application
Now, I use Twhirl and it’s better so far than Snitter, so I’ll stick with it. Below is a screenshot of the Twhirl application that runs on its own browser as its own application. See in the screenshot below that some messages are colored differently? In one view, I can see my messages (in grey), public messages addressing me (in green) and what isn’t featured is direct messages to me (in yellow) and direct messages I’ve sent others (in tan) that the public can’t see.
When you hover your mouse over the face of another user, four symbols come up: “@” (see Snitter explanation), an envelope (for direct messaging another user), a heart (to favorite a tweet) and a forward button (to re-twitter) that automates these actions for you so you don’t have to type the other person’s username. At the bottom, you can organize tweets by timeline, direct messages and more (see bottom tab that says “timeline” and play around with it).
Spaz Application
“@housechick tried twhirl when both spaz and twh in earlier version. spaz would update at faster intervals than twh. got used to spaz. plus how can i NOT use something called spaz? i mean, really.” Check out Spaz here! AG’s own Kelley Koehler endorses it!
TwitBin Application
“@gotbob It embeds in FF and I can see it while I am working on webpages without the pop ups like snitter or twirl. It freezes up every now and then.” Check out TwitBin here.
TwitterFox Application
“@chrisjohnston it is a Firefox plugin that allows me to post from inside my browser without navigating to Twitter or Facebook.” Chris listed several applications that he has used but seems to have settled on TwitterFox- check it out here!
Hahlo Application
“@ResPres Hahlo.com is the closest thing to twhirl on the iphone. I only use it on the iPhone.” So if you’re an iNerd, check out Hahlo here so you can Twit on the go!
More Applications
Apparently, there are many more applications that allow you to organize and see your twittering activities in its own program/application/browser such as Tweeter, Twitteroo, and more (article about FriendFeed to follow, relax!). Let us know in the comments which application YOU use!
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Consumerism, Geo-mapping columnist
Marketing columnist
Hmmmmm, this seems to be too focused on “speaking” and not enough about listening. Any post about Twitter clients, in the context of use by an agent, must address the importance of listening to all 4 million Twitter users. All the desktop client cited above are great ( although Alert Thingy and Posty are not mentioned ), but are only 50% of the equation.
Twitter listening tools loke Summize, TwitterVision and Twitscoop allow you to create keywords ( “need agent” “selling my house” ) and set-up alerts. By listening, you can “speak” more meaningfully with the desktop clients.
Mix and match a Twitter listening tool with your speaking tool of choice.
http://alertthingy.com
http://www.twitscoop.com
http://summize.com
http://twittervision.com
You could use Tweetdeck
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Jason, what do you like about Tweetdeck compared to the others you’ve used?
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Todd, I appreciate your input- this is a part of an ongoing series about Twitter and social media. We have found that addressing this in small chunks that are very focused helps our community to master each step. I happen to have a draft sitting in the backend about how to manage your online reputation, most notably on Twitter… I didn’t know about alertthingy.com, so I’m looking into it right now as we speak, so thanks!!!
Well I REALLY wanted to love Twitterrific, mainly because the blue bird icon is so friggin cute. But it didn’t get on with me even though it’s a Mac client. So now I use Twhirl and I’m v.happy with it really. I like the pinging sounds, the way you can easily see what you’ve read and all that jazz. I still use the web version of Twitter too though. I don’t know why, I just like doing things the lame way sometimes.
We use a combination of applications, for example, Twhirl (when it behaves), TwitterBerry when we’re on the road, Summize, Twellow (which is great for Categories) and Digsby, which is particularly interesting, since it enables you to check Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, GMail and IM Accounts all from the one application.
Great post! (As always) I adore Twhirl – and believe me, I tried at least 6 other apps/websites first. It has the perfect blend for my needs, stays open all day on my 2nd monitor and makes replys, directs, looking up profiles and clicking through to links in posts a breeze.
Not to overwhelm your readers, but I also love FriendFeed – a website that pulls in all your blog posts, twitter posts, bookmarks and more and allows other friends to comment – a lifestream, as many call it. Well, Twhirl now also supports Friend Feed!
I second the comment on Summize.com – if you want to find folks to follow by certain keywords (or see who’s talking about you), it’s a terrific website. You can grab an RSS feed, too.
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Easy tigers, your thirst is strong… we will continue the Twitter series and you’ll soon know EVERYTHING about Twitter.
lol
Help! I’m drowning. I can’t keep up. blub…blub…blub
I use twhirl ‘cuz Lani told me to. And generally speaking, I pretty much do what Lani says. (Quick learning curve + fear does wonders.)
I usually use a combination of TwitterFox, Twhirl and Digsby, but when I’m in Facebook and want to post to more than one medium, I often use Hellotxt. In addition to Twitter, HelloTxt posts to a large assortment of social media, including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Jaiku, Pownce, Brightkite, Plaxo, Tumblr, Hi5, Identi.ca, Plurk, FriendFeed, LinkedIn and many others. It saves a lot of time when you want to post something to all your social media.
Oh sorry, must have gotten side tracked by none other than Twitter.
I will piggyback on the comment #2 cause I left it so short. I like the fact that it is easy to group conversations and favorites. You can have all tweets in one category, replies in another and dm’s in another column. You can also search local tweets and summize if you want to hop in on a topic of choice (wink wink ‘local tweets about real estate) all from one source.
i love me some Twitterberry on my Crackberry. you can grab it over at http://www.orangatame.com/products/twitterberry/
I use Twhirl, but have been playing with Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck combines a Twhirl type client with a reader that pulls down Summize searches. For straight posting, I still like Twhirl better.
Twitterific is pretty cool for my iPhone. I’m on the fence between that and Hahlo. Hahlo is better for reading, Twitterific is better for posting.
I’m tcar on twitter.
3 more tips
Be different by NOT following scobleizer.
Obama isn’t the one who’s doing the tweeting, so following him is like volunteering to watch political commercials.
And finally, organize a tweetup. Real life conversations trump 140 character blurbs every time.
“…will continue the Twitter series and you’ll soon know EVERYTHING about Twitter…”
Promises, promises.
I use twhirl and online – I’m right behind Vicki in the big pool of twitter apps. I might have to check out Hello txt and Twitterberry.
Love twhirl. Tried twitterific on the iphone and I don’t like it! I will have to try hahlo. If @respres uses it, that is a good endorsement!
I’m with Bawldguy – I do as Lani tells me. We are all nothing more than robots under her control.
OBEY!
(or it could be that she does all the hard work and then we just come in and use the applications she suggests)
I like twitberry for my blackberry and use twitbin, so I can look on my side bar and jump in if anything comes up I want to link to or twit about.
Twhirl it baby!