Showing posts with label TweetDeck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TweetDeck. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2012

TweetDeck v1.3 Hands-on: Update Offers Much Needed Tweaks

A new version of TweetDeck for Windows and Mac hit the web today, courtesy of parent company Twitter, and we’re glad to say the app is a significant improvement over Twitter’s first attempt at fiddling with the social media client. TweetDeck v.1.3 now offers a host of new features including a list management function that allow you to create lists within the app without having to visit the web-based version.

To create a list, click the List button at the top of the screen and choose which of your linked Twitter accounts the list will be for. Add a name and a description of the list, choose the Twitter users you want to the list to follow and click save. want to add a user to an existing list, just click their name from your any other column and select Add or Remove from List. The feature is a much needed addition to the desktop client and will save a lot of users the headache of having to create lists from the web client.

The new Interactions column also adds the ability to see who has followed you, added you to a list, mentioned you or retweeted one of your tweets. You can also mark tweets as spam and unfollow other users. Also added to v.1.3 is the Activity column which updates you when someone you are following or follows you follows a new person, favorites a tweet, etc.

Our favorite addition to the desktop client is the new media preview feature. Now whenever someone tweets a photo or video, a small thumbnail preview will appear in line with the accompanying tweet. Clicking on the media will expand it to its original size. We definitely appreciate the inline preview since it makes knowing what you are really clicking on much easier, although we do wish the full-size view made the close button at the top of the screen easier to notice.

TweetDeck has also added an edit option to the retweet feature, which allows you to successfully edit another user’s tweets before retweeting them. It’s a small addition, but one that we like immensely. You can also choose to mark other users’ tweets as spam, block them or delete them from the app, something that was frustratingly missing from Twitter’s first TweetDeck effort.

There are, however, still two things we don’t like about the new TweetDeck. The first is the inability to add more than three columns to your stream on a single page. If you add more than  three  you’ll have to click over to the next page. So you can’t look at your update, mention, direct mention and activity streams on one page, something we would greatly prefer. On top of that, the Compose box functions as a popup box, instead of the bar-style Compose box old versions of the app used. 

In general, the improvements to TweetDeck such as the inline media previews are appreciated, but overall we still prefer the older versions of TweetDeck, those available prior to Twitter’s buyout, to the new version, especially since we could put as many columns on one page as we wanted. If you don’t have a social media client you like already,  we suggest downloading v.1.3, but if you still have the pre-buyout version 0.38.2 installed, we don’t recommend that you upgrade.


From Laptopmagazine. Visit Amazon Computer and Notebook Center Here

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Top 6 TweetDeck Alternatives

Since it was purchase by Twitter and its interface was dramatically overhauled, TweetDeck just hasn’t been the same as it once was. And though we still use the service, we know there are some users out there that are looking for a new social networking management service. To that end, we’ve compiled the six best TweetDeck alternatives available now.

Each of these services offers the same functionality of TweetDeck, with some added benefits that we found particularly interesting. So read on, social media mavens, to see what alternatives the Web has to offer.

One of the original social media tools, Hootsuite allows you to post to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, as well as several others from an easy to setup and use interface. As with TweekDeck and Seesmic, Hootsuite puts an emphasis on what others are saying, offering you a series of columns for direct and personal messages, sent messages and a general feed.

Scheduling tools help you prepare posts ahead of time, while the analytics tool helps you create branded and printable reports about how well your social media campaigns are performing.


From Laptopmagazine. Visit Amazon Computer and Notebook Center Here

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Manage Twitter and Facebook Accounts With TweetDeck

TweetDeck bills itself as a Twitter management app for power users, and this app has long been a favorite of those folks looking to manage multiple Twitter accounts. But its latest version is lacking some of the appeal that made earlier versions of this app a perennial favorite.

With its latest update, TweetDeck is now available in two versions: a Web-based version that runs on Apple's Safari or Google's Chrome browser and a desktop counterpart (which no longer runs on Adobe Air, as past versions did). The versions sync nicely, so that the information you enter when using the Web version appears when you log into the desktop version, and vice versa.

TweetDeck's interface is slick and attractive, and its features--such as the ability to schedule tweets for future posting--are easy to access.TweetDeck offers a nice array of features. It lets you manage an unlimited number of Twitter accounts, lets you schedule tweets for future posting, and offers a customizable layout that lets you view a good deal of information. I like its column-based format, which lets you organize the information you want to see--such as your Twitter timeline, @mentions, lists, messages, trends, tweets, and more--into easy-to-read columns. I wish you could view more than three columns at a time: TweetDeck limits you to that number, leaving an expanse of empty gray screen rather than letting you fill that space with another column.

TweetDeck was acquired by Twitter in mid-2011. Since then, the app's focused has narrowed: It now supports just Twitter and Facebook, whereas earlier versions included support for LinkedIn and other social networks. Users who relied on TweetDeck to manage various social networks are rightfully annoyed with this change--and may have better luck with HootSuite instead--but anyone who's looking to manage accounts from Twitter and Facebook only will appreciate its narrowed focus. Note, however, that while you can use TweetDeck to manage multiple Twitter accounts, it supports only one Facebook account. That means you can't use it to manage both personal and business Facebook accounts, should you have them. TweetDeck does make it easy to post an update to either Facebook, Twitter, or both services at once, though.

If you relied on TweetDeck's support for LinkedIn or another network, the latest version of this Twitter management tool is not for you. And despite its Facebook support, TweetDeck's focus is clearly on Twitter. That said, it does offer a comprehensive set of Twitter management tools, all laid out in an attractive interface. And it's free, too.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

--Liane Cassavoy


From PCWorld. Visit Amazon Computer and Notebook Center here