Just like in real life, your online social life will expand to fit any
amount of time you give it. Twitter is the most notorious for this
“productivity drain” – that’s why talented programmers have taken it
upon themselves to create new ways to make managing your online social
life even easier. Here are seven of the most popular software
applications you can use to effortlessly keep up with Twitter (and other
popular networks) even when you can’t be constantly connected.
1. Twitterberry – If you have a Blackberry, you can use
the free Twitterberry application to post directly to Twitter. You
don’t even need to use SMS as Twitterberry accesses and posts tweets
directly over the network. One potential downside is that posting and
gathering tweets can be slower than what you’re used to. Twitter itself
limits tweet requests to about 70 per hour and Twitterberry accesses
them even less frequently than that, according to their FAQ.
2. Tweetie – A superb application for managing your
tweets from your iPhone, Tweetie integrates alerts (like Tweetbeep.com),
a search function and multiple accounts so you can stay connected at
all times. If you’re looking for alternative iPhone Twitter clients, you
might also like to try Hahlo, Tweetsville or Twittelator Pro
3. SocialToo –
Keep your updates and followers synched across several social networks.
In addition to Twitter, SocialToo also works with Facebook, Identi.ca,
and RSS. You can also use it to create and submit surveys across your
social network. SocialToo will auto-follow anyone who follows you but
there is a filtering option available to prevent spammers from clogging
up your Twitter timeline.
4. Twitterfox
– Use Firefox to manage your tweets and see when your friends have
updated theirs through a small, unobtrusive notification button. If
you’d rather not download a Twitter software program and use your
browser to stay up-to-date on Twitter, Twitterfox is the program for
you.
5. Tweet All
About It – Right up there with tweeting directly from Firefox is
Tweet All about It, which lets you highlight and tweet any snippet of
text using Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Firefox version will also
show you how many characters you’ve highlighted. Tweet your snippet by
right clicking and choosing Tweet All About It.
6. PowerTwitter – A free Firefox extension that lets
you do broad and user-based searches, as well as post inline links to
YouTube, Flickr, TwitPic, Google Maps and more. Also shrinks and unwinds
links – helpful for when you’re not sure where that TinyURL really
goes. Works with #hashtags too.
7. EventBox –
One for the Mac users! Not free, but at $15, EventBox is a great way
to keep all your social services in one place. Works with Twitter,
Facebook, Google Reader, RSS and Flickr to name a few. View photos, see
friend updates and post your Tweets from one sleek application
Just for Fun
So you’ve been using Twitter for awhile – but just how much has it
benefitted you? Here are a couple of interesting ways to see just how
broad your reach is, or how much time you’ve wasted, with Twitter.
Twitalyzer –
See just how much influence you really have on Twitter. Measures your
influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, clout and more. See just
how popular you are in the Twitterverse
Tweetwasters –
How much time do you spend on Twitter? According to Tweetwasters which
calculates approximately how much time you spend on Twitter by the
number of your tweets, @problogger has spent nearly 4 days of his life
connected to Twitter!
amount of time you give it. Twitter is the most notorious for this
“productivity drain” – that’s why talented programmers have taken it
upon themselves to create new ways to make managing your online social
life even easier. Here are seven of the most popular software
applications you can use to effortlessly keep up with Twitter (and other
popular networks) even when you can’t be constantly connected.
1. Twitterberry – If you have a Blackberry, you can use
the free Twitterberry application to post directly to Twitter. You
don’t even need to use SMS as Twitterberry accesses and posts tweets
directly over the network. One potential downside is that posting and
gathering tweets can be slower than what you’re used to. Twitter itself
limits tweet requests to about 70 per hour and Twitterberry accesses
them even less frequently than that, according to their FAQ.
2. Tweetie – A superb application for managing your
tweets from your iPhone, Tweetie integrates alerts (like Tweetbeep.com),
a search function and multiple accounts so you can stay connected at
all times. If you’re looking for alternative iPhone Twitter clients, you
might also like to try Hahlo, Tweetsville or Twittelator Pro
3. SocialToo –
Keep your updates and followers synched across several social networks.
In addition to Twitter, SocialToo also works with Facebook, Identi.ca,
and RSS. You can also use it to create and submit surveys across your
social network. SocialToo will auto-follow anyone who follows you but
there is a filtering option available to prevent spammers from clogging
up your Twitter timeline.
4. Twitterfox
– Use Firefox to manage your tweets and see when your friends have
updated theirs through a small, unobtrusive notification button. If
you’d rather not download a Twitter software program and use your
browser to stay up-to-date on Twitter, Twitterfox is the program for
you.
5. Tweet All
About It – Right up there with tweeting directly from Firefox is
Tweet All about It, which lets you highlight and tweet any snippet of
text using Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Firefox version will also
show you how many characters you’ve highlighted. Tweet your snippet by
right clicking and choosing Tweet All About It.
6. PowerTwitter – A free Firefox extension that lets
you do broad and user-based searches, as well as post inline links to
YouTube, Flickr, TwitPic, Google Maps and more. Also shrinks and unwinds
links – helpful for when you’re not sure where that TinyURL really
goes. Works with #hashtags too.
7. EventBox –
One for the Mac users! Not free, but at $15, EventBox is a great way
to keep all your social services in one place. Works with Twitter,
Facebook, Google Reader, RSS and Flickr to name a few. View photos, see
friend updates and post your Tweets from one sleek application
Just for Fun
So you’ve been using Twitter for awhile – but just how much has it
benefitted you? Here are a couple of interesting ways to see just how
broad your reach is, or how much time you’ve wasted, with Twitter.
Twitalyzer –
See just how much influence you really have on Twitter. Measures your
influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, clout and more. See just
how popular you are in the Twitterverse
Tweetwasters –
How much time do you spend on Twitter? According to Tweetwasters which
calculates approximately how much time you spend on Twitter by the
number of your tweets, @problogger has spent nearly 4 days of his life
connected to Twitter!
