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  • Ten Terrific Twitter Tools

    By Eric Stoller October 28, 2010 11:15 pm EDT

    I use Twitter a lot. I am actively engaged in using Twitter as my personal and professional learning network. As a platform for learning and communication, Twitter is constantly evolving due to the many ways in which its community of users "learns" how to maximize "tweeting." Here are some of the websites and tools that I use on a regular basis to leverage the power of Twitter.

    Twitter Apps / Clients:

    • TweetDeck: One of my all-time favorite applications for accessing Twitter. TweetDeck is available as a desktop app as well as on the iPhone and Android devices.
    • UberTwitter: When I was a Blackberry user, UberTwitter was and still is, the best app for Twitter on a Blackberry.
    • Seesmic: While I never really used the desktop version of Seesmic, the Android version is extremely dependable/functional.

    Stats / Visualization / Data:

    • TweetStats: A quick tool for some simple Twitter visualizations. It shows that I had 2 tweets in March of 2007 (when I joined Twitter) and that I have tweeted 1,419 times this month!
    • TwitterCounter: A great site for predicting your level of engagement on Twitter.
    • TwapperKeeper: I've linked to the #EDUCAUSE10 hashtag to showcase the power of TwapperKeeper. It collects a lot of Twitter data.
    • Mentionmap: A nifty Twitter visualization tool. A great way to see who is connected to whom. I've found a few new tweeps to follow using Mentionmap

    Hashtag chat / conversation tools:

    • TweetChat: Whenever I participate in a hashtag-based Twitter chat (e.g. #sachat), I always use TweetChat.
    • Twitterfall: Another fantastic tool for displaying tweets. Twitterfall is practically a Twitter multi-tool.
    • What the Hashtag?: If you want a transcript from a hashtag-based Twitter conversation, What the Hashtag? is the perfect tool.

    Now I know that some of you have not yet signed up for Twitter. That's okay. Feel free to go to Twitter.com and sign up. Once you get started, I would highly recommend that you read "Twitter 101 For Business (or Higher Education)." It's a how-to guide written by the folks at Twitter. After you have been on Twitter for a while, you can start adding extras to your Twitter routine. For example, I use Twunfollow to keep track of my Twitter "churn" (I am unfollowed by about 10 different accounts per day!).

    What are your favorite Twitter tools?

    Do you tweet? Let's connect. Follow me on Twitter.

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Comments on Ten Terrific Twitter Tools

  • Posted by Paul Cox , Academic Advisor at University of Iowa on October 29, 2010 at 2:00pm EDT
  • Great list Eric. Thanks for these resources.

    I've been using DestroyTwitter 2 for a few weeks now and really like its clean design. Although it isn't available as a mobile app, it's AIR roots make it good cross-platform desktop solution.

    Do you have a favorite tool for archiving? I've been experimenting with Twapperkeeper and WTH (What the Hashtag) for a while now. Both are useful, but neither completely meets my needs.
  • Twunfollow
  • Posted by Kristen Abell , Associate Director, Residential Life at UMKC on November 9, 2010 at 9:45am EST
  • First, I just want to say that I was relieved by your Twunfollow numbers - I currently have between 3 - 5 unfollow me each day, and I was beginning to feel bad about that. Apparently I'm in good shape.
    Second, I'm a big fan of ManageFlitter.com - It tells you which of the people you follow are not following you, how often they tweet, if their accounts are inactive, etc. Love it.
  • Great list!
  • Posted by Jackie Jimenez on November 12, 2010 at 4:15pm EST
  • Eric - this is a great starter list to apps, stat tools, and hashtag/conversation tools for Twitter. One app that is great is Hootsuite. If you're managing more than one account, it's nice to link them together in Hootsuite and be able to manage feeds, reply to mentions, and have search feeds. Discuss how you use social media on http://sm4edu.ning.com!

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