Jesse Stanchak

8 tools for upgrading your Twitter experience

By Jesse Stanchak on October 6, 2010 | 19 Comments

Admit it: You might love Twitter as a social network, but you probably don’t love it as a service. Twitter is the Yugo of social tools — it can take you wherever to need to go, but there aren’t a whole lot of bells and whistles. Of course, Yugos probably broke down less often.

Twitter’s simplicity is probably a big part of why it has attracted so many new users over the last four years, but once you master the basics, it isn’t long before you find yourself wishing there was an easy way to unfollow inactive users or send private messages to several people at the same time. The good news is that Twitter makes it easy for developers to create tools that can take your Twitter experience from Yugo to Lexus without too much fuss.

Here are eight Web applications that you can use to kick your account into a higher gear. Note: For simplicity’s sake, I won’t get into full Twitter clients, mobile apps or analytics tools today — those weighty topics will have to wait for their own posts.

  • GroupTweet: Twitter gives you the option to send a private message to another user with its Direct Message feature — but what if you want send that message to more than one person? You could copy and paste the message over and over for several users — or you could use GroupTweet to take care of everyone at once.
  • twtpoll: Twitter can be a great tool for soliciting feedback, but tallying up those responses can be a pain. By using twtpoll, you can turn you simple query into a poll or survey question in wide variety of formats — and twtpoll even tabulates the results.
  • Twittercounter: This handy app allows you to update your Twitter account via e-mail. It even passes along any replies your tweet might receive. This is an excellent workaround if you want to post an update but the computer system you are using doesn’t allow you to access Twitter via a Web browser.
  • TweetBeep: If you want to stay abreast of what people are saying about you (or your brand or your blog post) on Twitter, but you don’t want to have to obsessively check the site all day, TweetBeep is the answer to your prayers, sending you regular updates on any search terms you choose to give it.
  • TwitLonger: This one is a little controversial, but Twitter’s character length is one aspect of the social network that many new users struggle with. TwitLonger offers a convenient workaround, allowing long tweets to be continued on another page via a custom link. Many Twitter purists will tell you that tight, pithy posts are part of what make makes Twitter such a great platform — and I have to say that in 99% of all cases, they’ve got a point. Most of the time, you’re better off just writing an irresistible headline and then directing followers to your website for more info. But for those rare occasions when a long tweet is justified, TwitLonger is there for you.
  • TweetShare: Twitter may only grant you 140 characters, but a picture is worth 1,000 words. Too bad Twitter doesn’t easily support sharing multimedia content. Tweetshare isn’t just about posting content online, however, it’s also about inviting discussion. Even when Twitter begins supporting multimedia content with its next big update, having a way to organize a conversation around that content will still be a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.
  • Twitter for Busy People: When I’m tweeting for work, I’m all about the latest links and info. But my personal account is geared toward my social life and keeping up with friends — some of whom are pretty prolific tweeters. The beauty of T4PB is that it groups together tweets by individual users, so I can quickly check up on what a particular person has been up to lately, without having to wade through everyone’s tweets.
  • ManageFlitter: Why let inactive users and fair-weather followers keep your following total artificially high? ManageFlitter identifies the dead weight and then helps you cut it right out.

What other Twitter apps are you using? What are some things you’d like to do with Twitter that I didn’t address in this article?

Image credit, skodonnell, via iStockPhoto

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Responses

  • Posted by David Perdew on October 6th, 2010 at 8:48 am

    Your assessment of TwitLonger is right on track, Jesse. The beauty of Twitter is it forces us to consolidate our thoughts, sort of like the age-old advice of E.B. White in The Elements of Style – Omit unnecessary words. If what you have to say takes more than 140 characters, use a blog to express yourself completely.

    Also, the usefulness of Twittercounter will make complete sense to those who use public Wi-Fi networks in places like libraries or government offices, where they shuttered access to social media sites for security purposes (including my local library).

  • Posted by 8 tools for upgrading your Twitter experience | SmartBlog on Social Media « Lyric Marketing Blog on October 6th, 2010 at 10:02 am

    [...] 8 tools for upgrading your Twitter experience | SmartBlog on Social Media. [...]

  • Posted by kseniacoffman on October 6th, 2010 at 10:11 am

    I recently discovered http://formulists.com/ – great tool to create, clone or massage lists, even other people's. I.e. you can specify a list consisting of people your friends talk to + have a particular keyword in their profile. Results in extremely targeted lists of new people to follow. Also a very convenient way to identify people who listed you.
    My recent post B2BChat- Analysts- Analyst Relations and Influencers in B2B

  • Posted by @znmeb on October 6th, 2010 at 10:59 am

    I've found that Twitalyzer is absolutely vital for managing my Twitter presence. It tells me how I'm doing and what I should be doing to improve my standing.
    My recent post Is It Sunday Already Seems Like Only Yesterday It Was Saturday – 2010-10-03 Edition

  • Posted by Todd on October 6th, 2010 at 10:59 am

    Great post, here are a few thoughts:

    GroupTweet – doesn't Twitter monitor for Spam? And doesn't this type of service run the risk of getting you labeled as a spammer and having your account shut down?

    ManageFlitter – I agree that many of the followers for a particular account are dead weight, but why would you want to lower your followers? I was just wondering what the benefit of this would be if they aren't active what's the big deal?

    Thanks for the article.

  • Posted by Derek on October 6th, 2010 at 11:10 am

    MediaFunnel is a great tool for teams, with built-in keyword/brand alerts and multiple users. Add in scheduling and "guest tweeting", and it's very helpful!
    My recent post Twitter API Loophole Could Expose Direct Messages

  • Posted by Hernan on October 6th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    Very useful, thank you.

  • Posted by jstanchak on October 6th, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    It doesn't purge your followers — just the people you're following that are inactive. Having more followers than people you're following is usually a good thing. It sends the message that you're discriminating — that you don't just have a lot followers because you follow everyone back. People love arguing about what the ideal ratio is and I won't pretend to know the answer — but in general clearing out the dead wood is a good idea.

  • Posted by Ben Ayers » links for 2010-10-06 on October 6th, 2010 at 2:07 pm

    [...] 8 tools for upgrading your Twitter experience (tags: Twitter tools social+media) [...]

  • Posted by Kartik on October 6th, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    Bravo. Lovely piece, frankly wasn’t aware so many Twitter tools existed!

  • Posted by @DanielStoicaTax on October 6th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    What is twitter?

    Just kidding!

    Awesome set of tools!

    Thank You for sharing!

  • Posted by @borisraskin on October 6th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    140 characters is not enough to provide a lot of insight. What you are left with is silly short catch phrases from gurus that masquerade as enlightened wisdom and get retweeted ad nauseam. twitlonger is cool but forces you to go off the site in order to see the longer messages, but it is ok.. I solved this problem with @1400chars by allowing posting longer text as images that can be displayed in the #newtwitter interface without leaving the page ok. enough self-promotion for one day. :)

  • Posted by mister33 on October 7th, 2010 at 11:47 am

    (I'm @1_a) Yes, I'll test it. I've tweet it. THX!

  • Posted by Vannie Ryanes on October 7th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    Good food for thought information. However, my question is the same as Todd’s concerning GroupTweet. As I was reading, I was thinking (1) I *really* hate getting spammy type messages and (2) I think doing this makes me a spammer.

    Please keep sharing info. There is something here for everyone. ;)

  • Posted by Ryan on October 8th, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    Thanks for the Grouptweet shoutout Jesse! The team at Grouptweet is working on developing some exciting new features to make the service more robust and full-service. Stay tuned!

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  • Posted by Aaron Longnion on December 31st, 2010 at 10:13 am

    How about Refynr.com? ;-)

  • Posted by planetshark on August 23rd, 2011 at 7:56 am

    I love https://crowdbooster.com – provides some terrific insights! (and it's FREE)