TweetDeck wants to change the way you Tweet by offering you the capability of using more than 140 characters. Their new project – Deck.ly – helps to ease the software’s dependence on Twitter and become a greater platform in itself. At its basic level, the new service will allow you to post updates that are as long as you wish them to be. If you are using TweetDeck on the desktop, iPhone or within Google Chrome (via the Extension), you will be able to read the full (long) Tweets right within your stream. If you’re using the Twitter website – or another client – you’ll have to click through to the new Deck.ly website in order to read the full posting.
Mr. Dodsworth states himself that they are going against what it is that Twitter is all about. What’s the point of this? If someone needs to post something that lengthy, shouldn’t they be doing so on Facebook or their blog? Twitter is meant for short and simple updates… not for lengthy rhetoric which belongs elsewhere on the web.
Perhaps I’m being a stick in the mud. I just don’t see this as being a good idea. I know several people who use TweetDeck as of this moment, and all of whom are considering moving to a different platform when this rolls out on Monday.
What are your thoughts? Should services such as TweetDeck make it easy for people to post entire blog posts right on Twitter? Shouldn’t we be keeping within that magic 140-character limit?
What Do You Think About TweetDeck?
One person who called the live stream recently wanted to know my thoughts on the TweetDeck application. It’s good enough, I suppose. I happen to feel it’s too cluttered, and doesn’t have a good user experience overall.
It is running on the Adobe Air platform. One of my largest frustrations with Adobe Air is that I cannot scroll sideways. There are so many columns in TweetDeck that you really need to be able to do this. Who actually clicks on a scroll bar to scroll around? No one does, that’s who! I want to be able to scroll in whatever direction I need. If an application doesn’t support this, it’s a giant step backwards.
If I navigate through my various Twitter accounts, I tend to use CoTweet at this point in time. I’ve yet to see a client that handles Twitter seamlessly and provides all of the functionality that I would hope for.
Matthew has created a screencast to walk you through setup of the free TweetDeck application. TweetDeck runs off of Adobe Air, and is an excellent program to help you manage your social stream. You can add your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, FourSquare, Google Buzz and MySpace profiles. Mix and match to have any (or all) of those accounts right in one easy-to-use application.
Using TweetDeck, you can tweet like one of the pros. Customize your Twitter experience in the program by using columns, groups, saved searches and automatic updates. You can tweet, share photos and videos and send links directly from the application – without ever having to log in to the web UI.
When you connect sites such as Facebook and MySpace to your TweetDeck application, you can update your status, share photos and videos, leave someone a comment and even group your friends. Add groups to follow only the people you want to see updates from, keeping your TweetDeck interface nice and tidy.
Thanks, Matt, for another excellent screencast!
What desktop application do you use to keep track of your social stream?
If you’re a Twitter user, the service is hoping you can spare 140 seconds of your time to help make the site even better. There are seven short questions which will ask your opinion on a variety of things.
What type of people do you follow? What Twitter client do you use and recommend to others? Why do you use the popular social networking service? These are a few of the things you’ll see when you click to take the survey. The question that remains, though, is why Twitter suddenly wants your feedback.
If you do choose to fill out the survey, you have the option of giving up your Twitter handle (and email address). This may open up a chance for you to test new products in the future. I know that many of you (especially developers in our community) will be interested in that potential opportunity.
I took the survey myself just prior to writing this article. I was surprised at the lack of choices when asked what type of people I follow. Why would anyone assume that I only care to follow experts, news sources and famous people? Yes, there’s an option for coworkers and family/friends. However, a large number of the people I follow don’t fit into any of the given categories. I had to come up with one word to write in the “other” spot – trying to pigeon-hole these people together.
When I neared the bottom of the survey, it struck me that this entire thing deals with one thing: which clients we prefer. They’re trying to gauge how old we are and where we come from, yes. However, the focus appears to be on our preferences when it comes to HOW we tweet. This is pure speculation, but what are the odds that the gang at Twitter may go so far as to hire a few developers in the very near future? Can you imagine them taking the best parts of the clients we like and creating something completely different? That, my friends, would likely be the best client of all.
If the world is a stage, then the people on Twitter must be the cast. I don’t know too many people who aren’t registered on the popular social network. The ones who aren’t are missing out, that’s all I have to say. Mark definitely has a handle on Twitter. He knows what apps work, and which ones don’t. Now that he has the iPad, he’s able to tell us what’s best to use on that device.
Tweetie 2 has a ton of cool features and a nice interface. It allows you to have more than one user account, and helps you see what’s happening all over Twitter. Mark noted that when magnified to full-screen, the text looks a little blurry.
Twitterific is another client that was tweaked for the iPad. There’s nothing really new, and it’s not very pleasing to the eye. It is free, so you get what you pay for.
In Mark’s opinion, TweetDeck got it right when it comes to changing things up to work on the iPad. He says that the developers worked hard to make good use of the screen real estate, and that it just plain looks great.
If you have an iPad, what Twitter client are you using on it? What do you love – or hate – about the way Twitter clients work on the device?
I need your advice! I’m putting together an eBook full of Twitter tips. There will ultimately be 140 tips, each consisting of 140 characters or less. As of right now, I only have 89 solid tips that I can use. This is where you come in!
Send me your best Twitter tips. Make sure that they are under 140 characters. If I use your tip, you will receive credit in the eBook. You will also get a free copy when it is finished. The book is only selling for $1.40 when it is finished, so hopefully you’ll tell all of your friends. Everyone of us was new to Twitter – and social media in general – at some point. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have some sort of easy handbook to follow along with as we found our way in the murky depths? I know my experience might have been much better had I had some tips to get me started.
Believe me, it’s not as easy as you think it might be to come up with this many good tips. Coming up with the ones I already have was difficult. Both Imei and Kat contributed to this venture already, and are now as stumped as I am! They have both given me some excellent ideas, all of which I’ve incorporated into the eBook. How lucky am I to be surrounded by such fantastic and smart women?
When the eBook is ready, it will be available at go.tagjag.com/twittertips. Keep your eye on that link in the upcoming weeks!
Are you addicted to Twitter? I know you are – you’re constantly refreshing so you don’t miss anything. There are tons of clients available to help you keep track of things. There’s even a special client is great to use when at work! Many bosses may freak out if they catch you using Twitter during working hours for some reason.
If you don’t have Adobe Air, you can also try the web-based version. This way, you’d be working on a spreadsheet within a browser! How productive are you now?!
It’s Twitter. You know you love it. You know you’re addicted to it. You KNOW you have to have it!