TweetDeck: How to Keep All Your Social Networks in One Place

For some, Twitter has never caught on as a social media tool. For others, it is virtually indispensable. Those who fall into the second category will definitely want to join TweetDeck, the next step in using Twitter.

Already on Twitter?

Well of course, if you want to use TweetDeck, joining Twitter would be the first step. Let's assume, however, that you're already a Twitter member, and tweet regularly.

Like Gmail was, once upon a time, TweetDeck is now in its "beta" form, meaning that it could and probably will go through a number of changes as programmers work out the bugs.

Though the "Gmail Beta" has become something of an in-joke now, Google continues to tweak the programming; it's likely that Twitter will do the same to TweetDeck. Nonetheless, it can still be fun to consider yourself part of the process.

On their main page, at TweetDeck, you'll see a directory, with an extensive list of topics. Under "Arts & Entertainment," for instance, you'll find "Video Games"; "Anime & Animation"; "Art"; "Books & Writing"; "Celebrities"; and "Comedy," just to name a few.

If you're a first-time user and want to explore this further, try clicking on "Art." Underneath that category, you'll find everything from Artists, described as "a continually growing list of professional artists on Twitter," to "Mid-Atlantic Museums." Each list has its own "word cloud," consisting of a list of keywords and/or search terms (for all you SEO experts) related to the topic.

Under "Mid-Atlantic Museums," for instance, you'll find such words as "Washington," "arts," "exhibition," and "museum." As on other social networking sites such as Reddit and Delicious, the most popular keywords appear in large fonts, and vice versa.

How Do I Use It, and Why?

For those who regularly update web content (e.g. Associated Content Sources and professional bloggers), TweetDeck gives you the chance to keep all your major social networking tools in one place. Its function is similar to that of OnlyWire; that site, however, has the added hassle of requiring non-paid members "enter a special code into your blog or website so that OnlyWire can advertise through them," according to The IM Alliance: OnlyWire Review.

At the moment, TweetDeck only allows you to sync Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn; this makes sense, however, given that these four sites are considered to be among the top places for promoting and finding content. Perhaps, as more competitors become interested, Twitter may add other sites (e.g. Reddit) to their network.

The TweetDeck interface, while confusing at first, may actually prove quite convenient for those who update their Web presence frequently. On the interface at left, under "All Friends," TweetDeck lists all of your Twitter friends (as well as those from other networks, if you so choose). Their latest tweets are listed chronologically; however, you have the option of listing them in order of popularity, or by hashtags (e.g. "#comedy").

It's highly convenient if you're searching for a specific friend or list (although learning the various icons and buttons may take some time and effort).

To the right of the Friend List are "Mentions," in which any friends that have mentioned you in their tweets and/or status updates are listed. The person's name and avatar are conveniently shown, as well as the date and time of the tweet, and their RSS feed site (e.g. Twitterfeed).

In my case, TweetDeck helped me become aware of some mentions people had given me that I might not have noticed otherwise.

TweetDeck also conveniently lists your Messages, which can be hard to keep track of if you have a lengthy address book of followers.

Being a user of Gmail, which I've found conveniently simple and easy to learn, I find TweetDeck to be an apt comparison:

Both Gmail and TweetDeck utilize a fairly straightforward interface, and advertise ease of use. While I'm much newer to TweetDeck, I find that I'm catching on rather quickly. For anything that's difficult to understand, there's TweetDeck Support, located in the upper right-hand corner of the application (as a little question mark button). In addition to having an FAQ, the Support box enables you to type in a question, and within moments, you'll receive answers given to specific questions similar to yours.

For your convenience, once you've downloaded TweetDeck, and are working at your computer, you can keep it minimized while working with other pages (naturally).

And the Specials Tonight Are...

On the main interface, you'll also see a column entitled "TweetDeck Recommends," which consists of people and profiles that you don't yet follow, but that TweetDeck suggests, based on your current list. While this "targeted advertising" doesn't always turn out accurately, you never know what you might discover in the process.

What's the Catch?

Well, if you don't like Twitter in the first place, you probably won't like TweetDeck. Although it's generally easy to utilize with repeated use, its layout can be confusing to a newcomer. On the other hand, if you're a "regular" at TweetDeck, using it will hopefully start to become second nature.

As some AC Contributors stated in "The AC Twitter Challenge," some will find this app (as well as Twitter itself) more useful than others. For those who are constantly trying to keep in-the-know technology-wise (and otherwise), TweetDeck is yet one more way to do so. On the other hand, it's far from the only social networking site out there, and in fact, Twitter isn't even the sole micro-blogging site anymore (see Search Engine Land: 5 Microblogging Sites That Aren't Twitter).

In some ways, TweetDeck can get on your nerves if you're trying to concentrate on something else important. Whenever an update is posted, a small "tweet" sound comes up, as well as a window that appears, however briefly, in the corner of your screen. As with most programs, of course, if you're sick of TweetDeck, you can just as easily turn it off!

TweetDeck seems most important when you're looking for minute-by-minute news, whether in entertainment, politics, weather, economics, or something else entirely. That it provides, in droves.

You (and I, for that matter) would do well to remember which other accounts we've linked to our Twitter page, however. If we have TweetDeck (which I currently do), any of those updates can appear on Twitter, if you've given it access.

Which brings up one last issue: that of privacy. Though practically all the social networking sites have varying degrees of privacy settings, identity theft seems to be an ever-growing issue; therefore, set limits on how much you put yourself out there, even as you're doing so for positive reasons.

That said, give it a shot - you just might find your page views (and your network of followers) multiplied, if you play your cards right.

Resources:

TweetDeck Support

Search Engine Land: 5 Microblogging Sites That Aren't Twitter

The IM Alliance: OnlyWire Review