Tag Archive for: apps

5 Reasons Why TweetDeck is a Great Twitter Tool

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When I first started on Twitter back in 2008, I viewed all Tweets within the Twitter interface. Then, I got hooked on HootSuite, especially when I started managing multiple Twitter accounts. I’m still a paying subscriber to HootSuite and love using the cute little Hootlet add-on to easily share interesting URL’s on Twitter. But something just seemed to be missing.

Enter TweetDeck. This slick desktop application (I prefer the downloaded version, although you can access it online as well) is always running in the background and has become my favourite way to interact with users on Twitter.

Here’s 5 reasons why I like TweetDeck so much:

1. Visually attractive – let’s face it, looks matter. And TweetDeck just plain looks good. I love the black background, the well-sized Twitter profile pics, and the fact that you can always view thumbnail images of pics that people post on Twitter.

2. It still displays Instagram images – as you may have heard, Twitter and Instagram went through a big breakup at the end of 2012. Basically, the end result was that Instagram pictures no longer display within the Twitter interface; instead, you need to click on a link and be taken to another page to view the image. Not so with TweetDeck! You can still view thumbnail images of kids, half-eaten restaurant dishes and scenery shots and also view the full-sized images within TweetDeck.

Update November 2014: Instagram images are no longer displayed in TweetDeck; instead, you need to click on the link and view the image in your browser.

3. Easily view different streams – using TweetDeck’s columns feature, you can add a new column for whichever Twitter account, list, or search result you want. And then you can quickly flip back and forth between them, making it quick and simple to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in your version of the Twittersphere.

4. It makes noise – you can turn on or off sound alerts for each of your columns, so that you hear a ding every time someone messages you, mentions you, writes a Tweet that matches your search criteria, etc. (If you want to make my computer ding, just mention @jenhames on Twitter!)

5. It’s free – I already pay for lots of social media tools and services, so it’s great to find such a great tool that is free.

Do you use TweetDeck? Love it or hate it?
Then leave a comment and let me know what you think.

How good is the Facebook Pages app?

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Have you tried out the new Facebook Pages app? For anyone who manages at least one Facebook page, this is a great addition, and even better for those of us who manage multiple pages. But it does have its limitations…

So what can you actually do with this app? Well, you can:

  • View page posts and filter them to show either only the page’s posts, or everyone’s posts
  • Like and comment on the page’s posts
  • Write a new post or share a photo
  • View a list of the people and pages who like the page
  • See new notifications
  • View a list of admins associated with the page
  • And the most important thing is the ability to view a simplified insights overview for the page

And the limitations?

  •  Much of what you can do with this app, you can also do on the regular Facebook mobile app (provided you have set up your page correctly), such as writing new posts, sharing photos and liking and commenting on posts
  • While you are able to view a list of page admins, you can’t change their authorizations or add or delete admins. Clicking on an individual admin simply takes you to their Facebook profile on the main Facebook app
  • The insights provided are very simple compared to the advanced insights available on the web version

So what do you think of the new Facebook pages app?