Trace and I are obviously huge fans of Twitter, but if you’re only using Twitter the website, you are missing out on all kinds of cool things people are doing with Twitter the service. TweetDeck is definitely my favorite application that utilizes Twitter because it makes it so powerful. I’ve fielded a couple of questions from Tweeps on using TweetDeck, so I thought it made sense to list a few quick tips to unleash its power for journalists and everyday users.
1) Livestream
This is the main selling point of TweetDeck. Instead of constantly reloading a web page, TweetDeck is constantly updating for you. Other applications, like Twhirl, do this as well, but I like TweetDeck’s style. By default it separates Tweets into three columns–”All Friends”, “Replies”, and “Direct Messages”. Right out of the box, it helps you keep Tweets organized. If you don’t use any of the other features, TweetDeck is still great, but if you haven’t played with the other features, read on…
2) Groups
I love, love, love groups! This powerful feature lets you classify your Tweeps and display them in a column by themselves. I have several groups, and display different ones at different times. My “All Stars” are always being displayed, while “Tech Tweeps” and “Political Tweeps” are sometimes turned off.
3) Filters
After you’ve set up your groups (or not), you can then filter the displayed column (filter button is at the bottom of each column) to only display tweets with the terms you specify. Pretty cool, especially if you are following a particular story and only want to read tweets from people who are discussing it.
4) Facebook Integration (and more)
I didn’t mention Facebook yet? You can pull status updates straight from Facebook to TweetDeck. That means you don’t have to load Facebook to get the gossip on what your non-Twitter friends are up to. All you have to do is click on the Facebook check box and sign in. TweetDeck does the rest! There’s also integration with TwitPic and 12Seconds.
5) Easy to Reply, DM, and RT
When you mouse over the image of a Tweep in TweetDeck, you’ll see several options. They allow you to Reply, Direct Message, and ReTweet, along with other options. Very handy if you are a user who uses Twitter not just to update your own status, but also to interact with others.
6) Other Settings
Everything is adjustable. You can change amount of time between TweetDeck’s auto updates, color schemes, max tweets in a column, and sound notifications among other things.
Of course, TweetDeck isn’t perfect. At least one person I’ve talked to has commented on not being able to change the width of individual columns, and it would be great if you could manage multiple Twitter accounts like you can in Twirl. I’m sure there are other features I’m overlooking because I simply don’t use them.
What’s your favorite TweetDeck feature? Are there other desktop applications for Twitter you like better?
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