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TweetDeck: Stacking Your Deck with New Tools
I have a new toy. No, Santa didn’t come early. Some late-night surfing yielded a new tool called “TweetDeck“.
I don’t use Twitter much. I’ll turn it on for a day or two, get bored and forget about it for another few weeks. While checking my Twitter homepage recently, though, I noticed a few people sending responses from TweetDeck, and I decided to check it out.
As The Crow Flies
Yes, I’m a sucker for packaging. I liked the crow icon, which is much more fitting for the desktop of the Lord of the Underworld (that’s me) than Twitter’s bluebird of happiness.
TweetDeck is an Adobe Air application like Twhirl, and TweetDeck is Twhirl on steroids. The application enables Tweeters to break down and organize contacts across several columns rather than Twhril’s single-column interface.
The basic view includes a column for incoming Tweets, a second column for replies, and a third for direct messages. You can add more columns depending on how you organize followers and followees. If you want a single column, just click on the icon for single columns in the upper right corner of the window.
Want to see more? Click here. You can watch a fast demo direct from Rhodester.
Option Paralysis
I have to admit I felt disoriented the first time I opened TweetDeck. The interface is HUGE and eats up far more real estate than Twhirl does. (This coming from someone who has two oversized monitors.) I can only imagine how much space TweetDeck consumes on smaller screens or laptops.
The next thing that had me grumbling was the “What Are You Doing” area. I couldn’t find it! I moused over the icons at the top and found the little quote bubble (the first icon in the row of tools at the top). One click, and presto. There was the text box for entering my oh-so-many updates.
What I like about the new text area is that it includes another field below the updates box for URLs and a button to shorten the link as well. There’s also a button for TwitPic – another mystery to me.
The other icons in the toolbar are self-explanatory. There are various views (all tweets, followers, retweet, direct messages, etc.), but there’s also an icon that indicates “12″. When you mouse over it, it displays “12seconds”.
12 seconds until what? I’m afraid to click it.
Well, the world didn’t end when I did click, but TweetDeck’s interface did gray out and present me with updates for “12second.tv“. Apparently, this is Twitter’s answer to video clips.
Love it? Hate it? Can’t live without it?
So far the consensus seems to be that TweetDeck is an application for the serious Twitterratti. It’s big, it has a lot of options, but I think that if you don’t have a huge following to manage, it’s overkill.
The features are interesting, but the interface takes up far too much space on the desktop and is probably a lot more than the average Twitterer (like myself) needs. I’ll stick with it for a while and see what happens, but in the meantime, I’m curious to hear from those who’ve used TweetDeck.
What do you think? Vital tool or overkill?
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James is reading:
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Taylor is reading:
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Social Hookups
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Well, you know how I feel about it. An angel came down from heaven and crapped on my lawn. When I went out there he flew away, but it turned out that the “crap” was really a CD containing a copy of the latest version of TweetDeck.
I went inside, installed it, and suddenly my computer took on a golden hue. Then a chorus of voices started to sing and I felt a warm, gentle breeze sashay throughout the house accompanied by a tinkling sound, not unlike tiny bells whispering “I love you” over and over and over again.
I like it.
RhodesTer´s last blog post…23 Squidoo! and monetize, too!
Oh, and I pulled the Seesmic video demo. This is the one you want..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3NKXJyUdNM
Thanks for the attempt, anyway!
RhodesTer´s last blog post…23 Squidoo! and monetize, too!
Oh you little *(*^@)(*@^% you pulled yesterday’s video!! That was so FUNNY! Now I have to listen to THIS video to see if you talk about me.
Have to admit, the color’s better…
I’m going to install TweetDeck today. I’m probably one of its Ideal Target Market Consumers anyways.
I’m with RhodesTer on this one, except for the angel crapping part. (Obviously the guy has connections – I had to go download my TweetDeck like every other commoner.)
Even with a fairly small number of followees/followers (sniffle), Twhirl was just too teeny and fiddly for my liking and I always felt like I was missing stuff.
I’m very visual, so I like to see the whole picture so I can sort it in a way that makes sense to me. That’s where TweetDeck delivers.
I like it. A lot.
SEE, now? I’m not alone in this.
Just so everyone knows, stuff like that doesn’t happen to me ALL the time, except I did have a meteor plunge from the sky one time and barely miss me as it sizzled into the ground with a huge BANG and terrific shockwave that rocked the neighborhood for miles around. Just then the oil came gushing up and I was thankful that I’d just closed escrow on the place that morning.
RhodesTer´s last blog post…23 Squidoo! and monetize, too!
Oh! It made it to you, did it? I’m pleased. Thought it had gotten lost in space.
Much like Harry, I was left thinking, “what’s all the fuss about?”, however after some continued use I have come to adore the group button and the Twitscoop column.
*Giggling at the comments*
The angels haven’t yet visited me. I’ve been considering Tweetdeck for a while, as I get more and more followers/friends. Good review – I’ll let you know if I actually start using it.
Joely Black (@TheCharmQuark on Twitter)´s last blog post…The girl gets airborne
I like it, but I forget to use it on a regular basis. I monitor discussing centering around the words “deaf” and “hard of hearing” so I like TweetDeck for that.
Karen Putz / DeafMom´s last blog post…I Survived a Drive-By Shooting
I used it for a few weeks. Didn’t really like it – having to scroll back and forth to see group updates, and the API timeout thing was really annoying. That said, now that I’m up near 400 followers/following, I may need to rethink. Need better organization….
I like to think the angels listen very well to me. Bastards keep asking for pay raises, though… need to nip that in the bud.
@ Rhodester – I notice that you didn’t mention MEEE in your video. You didn’t follow the intro script I’d given you. Remember? “James is fantastic and everyone should send him praise and money…”" REMEMBER?
@ Christa – I think the organization factor may be one big reason I’d want to check it out.
@ Karen – I forget to do a lot of things, hehehe…
@ Joely and Marc – Rock on! Let us know how it goes
I just started using Tweetdeck yesterday. Twitter goes against all my instincts, yet people I trust keep telling me I need to engage. Every time I’m there, I can’t ignore the fact that I’m not writing. Like Harry, I saw a lot of people posting from Tweetdeck and so I checked it out. It worked like a charm. I had it on the second monitor and looked up occasionally. Tweetdeck might coat Twitter in chocolate for me.
Writer Dad´s last blog post…Bang!
I started using Tweetdeck when I started using Twitter, so I can’t compare it to anything other than the main Twitter site. Once I scaled the learning curve, figuring out what all the icons meant, how the search works, and what organizational features it has, I’m loving it. I think it’s helped accelerate my connections because I find it easy to use…and it lives in my Windows tool bar and just pops up a little notice window when tweets come in, so minimal on the interruption scale.
But take all this with a grain of salt…I’m still a Twitter newbie, in the honeymoon phase!
@trishlambert
As a fairly hardcore twitter user (thanks to Rhodester) I have to say that I love TweetDeck. It’s not perfect. The API timeout kills me. There’s not a good way to duplicate the setup on multiple machines. But overall it’s great. The icons are pretty much in all the right places and it now has all the right icons. Adding folks to groups, retweeting (the true strength of Twitter), DM’ing, adding people, it’s all so easy. But yeah if you don’t have a bunch of followers/people you follow then it could be overkill.
Scott´s last blog post…Rick Warren To Pray
@Rhodester: Holy crapping angels, Batman! No angels here, just late night curiosity.
@James: My first thought was “This is going to splatter James’ brain if he installs it.” My second thought was, “He’s going to hate it because it’s going to take up half his monitor” and my third thought was, “He’s going to love it because he can organize the hell out of it”
@Lisa: Twhirl was too small for me and I felt like I was always missing stuff too.
@Rhodester (again): So that meteor is sort of a modern day twist on the Beverly Hillbillies?
@Marc: Yup, liking TweetDeck more and more each time I use it.
@Joely: In my early morning wake up bleariness I read your name as “Joe Black”. With all the talk of angels and meteors I was beginning to wonder if the Universe was trying to tell me something. But yeah, give TD a try, you’ll probably like it.
@Karen: Organization, gotta love it.
@Christa: I haven’t had any API problems, not like I did with Twhirl, but I do have to remember to scroll over and check my DM column. So if you send me a direct message and I don’t respond right away, I probably haven’t seen it yet.
@WriterDad: The second monitor is the key for sure. If I just had a single monitor I probably wouldn’t like it so much. It still takes up a quarter of the one I have it on, but I’m getting used to it.
@Trish: It is easy to use once you get rolling. Keep us updated after the honeymoon!
@Scott: Will it install for you on multiple machines? I haven’t tried to install it on the laptop at all, but I do know that Twhirl won’t install on it. I probably won’t use TD on the laptop anyway because the monitor’s too small.
I just recently switched from Twhirl to TweetDeck. I like the way I can customize the layouts to show just what I want, and the way I can separate the replies and direct messages. I have DMs set to go to my cell phone, so I usually have TD set to one column, so it doesn’t take up much more space than Twhirl did. Like Scott, I find the API timeout annoying, as is the notifying ping — much shriller than Twhirl. Haven’t used the group function enough to comment on it, but all in all TweetDeck is a great timesaver for me.
Even though the options are great, I would love TweetDeck if you could make the tweets smaller in a visual sense. The columns should be resizable as well. I’d also like the notifications to work like Twhirl, where directs and replies show upso you know whether you want to bring that app to the foreground.
Jamie Grove – How Not To Write´s last blog post…The Stone Heart: Picking Up When Inspiration Leaves Off
TweetDeck is without a doubt the best twitter client available. I use it in full screen mode on a 19″ flat panel and it is wonderful.
Grant Griffiths´s last blog post…Automating Some of My Twitter Activity
I’ve been a Twhirl holdout for some time (and I’ve tried Tweetdeck a few times).
I might be more like Harry in terms of usage so maybe it might be time to try it again and explore the power of the application.
Brett Legree´s last blog post…viking fridays – give and give again.
Twitter . . . Twitter? LOL
Harry, I can’t – I just can’t. I don’t mean to disappoint.
John Hoff – eVentureBiz´s last blog post…Understanding The Psychology Of Your Website Visitors
Wow.
Thank you.
it’s Adobe Air so it works on my Mac..
And looky – just like you, they went white on black
I wax and wane with Twitter. Sometimes I use it a lot, sometimes I ignore it for weeks..
Tony Lawrence´s last blog post…Like kids on Xmas morning
I have a Twitter account but have yet to try the TweetDeck thingy.
I just checked the link but don’t know if I want to try it. Better organization in TweetDeck sounds like it might be worth a try though.
I post tweets weekly or bi-weekly.
Michelle Kafka´s last blog post…Who Let The Dogs Out?
There’s a Twitter app similar to TweetDeck named TweetGrid that doesn’t require installation (somewhere in the clouds – probably tweeting). It can be found at http://tweetgrid.com/ . I found that I had to allow all cookies on my firewall in order for it to work though. Useful for those times when you’re not on your own computer or just don’t want to install another app on your computer. The downside is I didn’t see anyplace where you could save settings for a custom view.
I have mixed feelings for the crow. I respect them but don’t particularly care for them – they’re pests.
Love it. At first, hated it. Well, actually, wasn’t too wild about having to install AIR. And I didn’t like how much screen real estate it took. I’m still not too wild about having to install AIR, but the advantages of Tweetdeck overcame my objections. I really like have the multiple panels for filtering tweets.
I make it’s large screen area work to my advantage. It’s too big to have on screen all the time, and I turn notifications off, so I only get distracted by it when I want to take a break from my work for a few minutes.
What the hell is Air anyways? It feels like I’m installing two programs instead of one.
Air is a kind of “operating environment,” as near as I can tell.
Remember how, years ago, some companies started releasing software that required an operating environment called Windows 3.1 to run? So at the command line you’d type “win”, run Windows and do your work, and when you were done you could actually quit out of Windows and get back to the MS-DOS prompt? Air is kind of like that, I think.
Straight from Wikipedia:
Adobe AIR is a cross-platform runtime environment for building rich Internet applications using Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, HTML, or Ajax, that can be deployed as a desktop application.
So basically someone can create an application and instead of needing a browser to use it, you can use it on your desktop through the use of Air.
Heheh, blast from the past. I remember coding a spaceship in DOS to land on a point on the moon.
Oh, how far we’ve come…
But that description of AIR seems… like backwards technology. Plus it dumps shit on my computer I don’t want. The more that stays on the web, the happier I am!
I’ve found AIR to be pretty smooth and it isn’t too big, so I don’t mind it too much.
If you think AIR dumps shit on your computer you don’t want, just keep running anything from Microsoft…
Brett Legree´s last blog post…viking fridays – give and give again.
My following is pretty small right now. I’ll keep my eye on it, for the future.
Bamboo Forest – PunIntended´s last blog post…7 Things People Say that Sound Like One Thing – yet Say Quite Another
You mentioned two monitors..
I’d love to do that. I sometimes DO hook up another monitor, but mostly I sit here at the (relatively) tiny screen of my MacBook Pro.
It’s not so horrible – I Apple-Tab between apps – but I really would like to have two.. or three..
But every time I hook the other one up I start feeling guilty about wasting electricity. This is from someone who never turns anything else off for “convenience”. But all that stuff isn’t staring at me like that monitor does as it defiantly sips power. I can see the printer, but it only has a tiny light. The Verizon router has lots of lights but it’s under my desk. The half dozen vampire plugs ready to service my cell phone, the battery charger, the bluetooth and who even remembers what else are all on outlet bars that could be shut off.. but they are under the desk too..
I should put the monitor under the desk. No, that wouldn’t work..
Tony Lawrence´s last blog post…Did I mention that she hates Earthlink?
One thing annoys me about Tweetdeck is that it doesn’t save the Groups. I closed the group window I created as I didn’t need it at the time. Gone. I had to do it again. Now I am afraid to close Tweetdeck at all (it’s in the systray).
These apps are dangerous because they can hook you in twitter for too long. It’s a great way to meet people. It’s USA Today of conversations. We can get more conversations in less time than shlepping or RSSing from blog comment to blog comment.
Meryl K. Evans´s last blog post…Let Us Tweet
@ Writer Dad: Yes, you and Dave need to be on Twitter more. Please?
@ Harry: I got the groups to work! I didn’t realize there were little check boxes because I keep my monitor dim to avoid eye strain. It works! Woot!
@James: I have Harry on twitter. Why don’t I have you? hmm? hehe
James
I discovered Tweetdeck a while back but stopped using it so I just uninstalled it. But like most of you, I wanted organization so I tried Tweetdeck again but cannot get it to function properly? I depend on Twitterfox at the moment. If anyone can help me with Tweetdeck, I’m all ears. Thanks in advance.
-Miguel
Miguel | Simply Blog´s last blog post…Blog Ethics: Rules 2 & 3-Comments
@Miguel: What exactly isn’t functioning properly?
Harry
Hey, thanks… yeah, nothing shows up? No updates, comments and so on. It’s lifeless… For some reason, I can’t see or reorganize the different sections.
-Mig
Miguel | Simply Blog´s last blog post…Subscribe and Win $1200 Worth of Prizes
@ Miguel – Hey, I’d be happy to help you out (and others too, I’m sure.)
Why not post your questions about what isn’t working well or what you don’t understand about TD in our Forum, and we can all chime in to answer.
Come back here and let us know the link!
Done, signed up and so on. Thanks for the heads up about the forum. See you all there.
-Miguel
Miguel | Simply Blog´s last blog post…Subscribe and Win $1200 Worth of Prizes