Sure, I can start with the basics. TweetGrid is a web based solution for watching multiple, filtered streams from Twitter. For example I have used TweetGrid during the Presidential Debates to track up to six hashtags. Today I am using TweetGrid to track six relevant to NFL Football Twitter streams.

Sorry! You don't know what a hashtag is? Really hashtags are very simple. Even if you have not used one you have seen them on Twitter. Anytime you see a word preceded by a hash mark (pound sign, tic tac toe sign) that is a hashtag. Hashtags are used to organize tweets into subgroups for search purposes. Anyone can create or use a hashtag and many people use the more common hashtags possibly without even knowing what they are doing - like the very common hashtag #followfriday or #TGIF.

Hashtags do not recognize spaces so if you are creating or using a hashtage #followfriday is not the same as #follow friday. In fact the latter hashtag would be recognized only as #follow. Likewise capitalization does not apply so #FOLLOWFRIDAY is the same as #followfriday. Now take a look at http://tweetgrid.com and take a note you do not have to create an account or even log in to Twitter to use this service. Essentially what it does is take the RSS feed from search results on Twitter to present them in their own "frames".

On the home page you choose the layout, how many streams you want to follow and how they are laid out, with one click. This will take you to the blank layout page where you can type your search term(s) into the form field at the top of each panel. You can use spaces in these search fields just like you would on a search engine. CAUTION: Narrow your search or it could find a lot of results not applicable to your actual search interest.

Today, as I write this blog post, I am monitoring #falcons, #colts, #giants, #nfl, #football, and @thekencook (to get tweets sent to me). Go ahead, give it a try! For this purpose I like this resource much better than TweetDeck - there is nothing to download with TweetGrid so it runs on the web and not on your local machine so there is very little drain on resources.

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