Jul
3
Use TweetDeck to Manage Conversations
12 Days of Twitter :: Day 2
(learn more about the 12 days of Twitter)
You can have a conversation on a mobile phone, or you can have a conversation on a landline. One phone might make the conversation better, while another makes it completely frustrating (filled with static). Twitter is the conversation, and the Twitter team opened their framework so that different developers can build applications to make the conversation a better experience.
Some people use Twitter passively by following one or a few people with the sole desire of taking information in without participating. If that’s you, the Twitter website will be all you need. However, Twitter becomes more interesting when you have active conversations with hundreds or thousands of people. For that, you’ll want to use a desktop application. There are several free options (Tweetie, Seesmic, Twhirl, Twitterific), but after trying them all, I choose TweetDeck.
TweetDeck won my favor immediately because the design was beautiful and simple. Since launch, TweetDeck has added feature after feature that increased my ability to manage thousands of conversations.
Here’s what I love:
Columns
TweetDeck was the first application I saw to sort information into columns, and it makes a huge difference in managing conversations. Choose up to 10 columns from the options at the top of the application:
All Friends – Lists all updates from every person you follow
Mentions – Lists any tweet from anyone, whether you follow them or not, that includes @username. It’s a great way to make sure you have the opportunity to respond to any tweet directed to you or any tweet about you. *Please note: in the video I refer to this as @Replies. The name since changed to Mentions.
Direct Messages – Lists all private, direct messages (or DMs)
Group – Gives you the ability to separate your list of friends into groups. One example of how to use this is to make one group for your personal friends and family, and one group for co-workers. Once you have a group set up, you can edit by single clicking on the name of the group. It will open another column to edit who is in that group.
Twitter Search – This is an important one!!! Use this to track a keyword, or keywords, that are important to you. Want to know what people are saying about you or your business? Twitter Search. Want to know what people are saying about Harry Potter, knitting, or the latest episode of True Bood? Twitter Search.
TwitScoop – A look at what the hot topics are right now on Twitter. A “cloud tag” is a graphic representation of popularity. The bigger the word is, the more popular the topic.
Facebook Status Updates – Integrate Twitter and Facebook. See your Facebook Friend’s updates along with your Twitter friends.
Single Column View
If you’re multitasking and need to take up less screen real estate, choose the Single Column View.
Multiple Accounts
This is a fairly new feature, and it makes TweetDeck even more valuable! Manage your business account and your personal account without having to log out and in again.
Shorten URL
When you need to save characters in your tweet, you can use the URL shortener to collapse a long URL and make it shorter. You can choose your favorite URL shortener service.
Upload a Photo
You’ve probably seen a lot of twitpic links out there. You can use the Upload a Photo button to make it easy to post photos without having to upload one and then link to it yourself.
Recent Hashtags
Hashtags tell the world that a tweet is about a particular subject, and allows people to track conversations about that subject easily. To set up a search for tracking a hashtag, just use the Twitter Search feature. If your business is online, you’ll want to actively follow hashtags relating to your business. The same applies if you care what people might be saying about you personally on Twitter.
Recent Hashtags allow you to use hashtags you’ve used in the past on a tweet without remembering or looking them up.
Hover for More Options
When you’re ready to respond to people and do more, hover your mouse over a person’s picture You’ll find four main buttons:
@reply
Direct Message
Retweet
Options
Click on Options, and you get more choices:
User
–Add to Group – Add this person to an existing group
–Follow – If you’re not following this person, click to add to your friends
–Unfollow – Don’t like someone anymore? Unfollow.
–Block – This will block you from seeing someone’s tweets, @replies or DMs. You’ll never see them again. Great for spammers!
Tweet
–Translate – Translate foreign tweets so you can read them
–Mark as Read - Mark a single tweet as read
–Delete – Delete a single tweet
Column Specific Options
For each column, you’ll see these buttons at the bottom:
Cloud Tag – See what’s popular in that column
Filter – When you’re looking for a particular tweet or subject, you can use the Filter to temporarily “search” through that column
Mark All As Seen – I love this feature. When I’ve caught up with my tweet reading, I mark everything as seen so I know what’s new when I come back
Clear Seen Tweets – This will wipe out everything that’s seen so it doesn’t even show up in TweetDeck
Clear All Tweets - Clear everything, whether it’s marked as seen or new
Move Left/Right - Organize your columns in the order you want
Here’s a video I produced earlier this year that demonstrates how to use TweetDeck:
When you install any desktop application for Twitter, you might be asked to install something called Adobe AIR. It enables people to develop applications that will work on any operating system, so a developer with a great idea can make that application available to everyone. It’s a trustworthy download, so don’t be worried if you see this pop up.
Read More
Introduction to the 12 Days of Twitter
Day 1: The Secret Code: What are all those initials and symbols?
Day 3: Share Your Funny Anecdotes While They’re Still Funny
Day 4: Follow Responsibly
Day 5: 3 Newbie Mistakes Made by New Tweeters
Day 6: Use Twitter Search to Connect and Find
Day 7: Twitter Mobile
Day 8: Five Awesome Things You Can Do with Twitter
Day 9: Mix it Up!
Day 10: If You’re Not a TweetDeck, You Might Be a Seesmic
Day 11: Twitter for Prizes and Profit
Day 12: Schedule Tweets in Advance
The developer is making constant improvements to the Groups feature as well as all of TweetDeck. Make sure you give developers feedback so they know what you want!
