Here is a great article that I came across!
Organize and Search Twitter Tweets Quickly and Easily
© Shelly Hokanson
Twitter is a fantastic communication tool, but it is easy to be overwhelmed with messages. Organize tweets with TweetDeck and never miss another message.
Twitter is all the rage - the micro-blogging service that allows users to post short messages online and on the go via text messages. Its simplicity is apparent. Users are encouraged to answer one simple question: "What are you doing?"
The trouble is, Twitter's interface is purely chronological. Whether accessing Twitter via the web or via text messages on a mobile phone, users see nothing more than a chronological list of messages (or "tweets"). TweetDeck was designed to make it easier to organize, search, and post tweets.
Tweet Deck Features : What is TweetDeck?
· Groups
· Reply Tracking
• Search
The most handy feature of TweetDeck is the "Groups" feature. It allows users to create groups for sorting Twitter friends. One approach to sorting friends is to create groups to separate the chatty types from those whose posts are of the "must see" variety.
Another is to sort friends based on interests, such as sports, technology, poker, photography, etc. Local friends can be grouped separately from internet friends, work friends separately from personal friends - the possibilities are endless. Grouping in TweetDeck makes it much easier to keep up with the must-see tweets.
In keeping with the theme of organizing tweets, TweetDeck has an impressive reply tracking feature. Replies sent directly to you from friends automatically show up in the Replies column in TweetDeck, as well as any messages that mention your username via the @username syntax. Simple buttons allow users to quickly reply or send a direct message back to friends.
The Search feature in TweetDeck is a handy way to keep up with interesting topics. Searches can be performed locally to find matches within existing tweets from friends, or globally to find matches from all public posts on Twitter. The search terms will remain in effect until the Search column in TweetDeck is closed. This is a great way to find new friends with common interests on Twitter.
TweetDeck collects tweets as long as it is running. Users can step away from the computer (such as, to sleep at night) and come back to find all of the evening's tweets waiting to be read come morning. It can save up to 48 hours worth of tweets.
Interface and Integrated Tools
Aside from these useful organizational features, TweetDeck also makes it easy to post tweets to Twitter. The interface includes a character count so that messages don't exceed the 140 character limit.
TweetDeck is integrated with several common Twitter tools:
· Bit.ly - a built-in tool to shorten web URL's for posting to tweets
· TwitPic.com - a tool that allows users to post photos to Twitter
• TwitScoop.com - a tool that displays a cloud of keywords that are currently popular on Twitter
TweetDeck's interface is customizable and allows users to display anything from a single column to a full screen multi-column layout. A multi-column layout is particularly useful running full screen on a second monitor, for users with dual monitor configurations. It shows its status as well as Twitter's network status, and can be configured to sound audio alerts when new tweets arrive.
Downloading and Installing TweetDeck
TweetDeck can be downloaded free of charge at TweetDeck.com. It is an Adobe AIR based desktop application available for Windows Vista and XP, Mac OS X, and Linux. If the Adobe AIR runtime is not already installed, the TweetDeck installer will prompt users to install it. (Adobe AIR is a tool that allows developers to create internet based applications that run on the desktop).
At the time of writing, TweetDeck is in a public beta testing stage with version 0.16.1. It is a free application, but its developers gladly accept donations via PayPal for the continued development of TweetDeck.
Source: TweetDeck.com
The copyright of the article Twitter Tools: TweetDeck in Social Networking/Tagging is owned by Shelly Hokanson. Permission to republish Twitter Tools: TweetDeck in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Read more: "Twitter Tools: TweetDeck: Organize and Search Twitter Tweets Quickly and Easily" - http://social-networking-tagging.suite101.com/article.cfm/twitter_tools_tweetdeck#ixzz0AmvtV3Oh
Comments (1)Subscribe to CommentsComment