8 Cool Twitter Tools
Sick of hearing about Twitter? That’s too bad, because the needle is about to go into the red.
Twitter is a real-time status update service. In concept, it’s sort of a public IM network. You tell Twitter what you’re doing right now and all of your "friends" and "followers" — respectively, Twitter-speak for buddies or subscribers — get an update. Anything you post goes up on your personal page at Twitter.com as well as out to your followers via IM, SMS or a client. In that respect, it’s also sort of like micro-blogging. A Twitter message is limited to 144 characters, so whatever you’re doing, you’d better be able to describe it with brevity.
This week’s SXSW conference saw Twitter usage totally hit the roof. Get a bunch of geeks in the same town with endless options for get-togethers, and Twitter becomes one of those perfect niche apps for staying up-to-date. I think it has the momentum it needs to stick around for a while.
I was trapped here at the office during SXSW, but I was able to follow along with the happenings down in Texas using some third-party tools. Here’s a list of our favorite ways to move beyond Twitter’s browser and SMS interfaces.
- Twitteriffic is a lightweight Mac client by Icon Factory. It works just like a chat client’s window. If you step away from your desk for a few (or many) hours, you can scroll back through time and read the Twitters sent by people you’re following. The design is slick and non-invasive — The client hides when you close it, and clicking the "t" icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen opens it back up.
- Twitteroo. The best of the Windows clients I tested, Twitteroo brings Twitter to the PC desktop in a customizable, nice-looking package. All of the standard "chat client" features are there, and developer Eric Willis is actively releasing updates and improvements.
- Post to Twitter for Firefox. Send Twitter updates straight from the Firefox search engine field. Just surf to John Blackbourn’s page with Firefox 2.x and click your list of search engines. Choose "Add Post to Twitter" and begin sending updates. Just remember to switch that engine picker back to Google before you start cyberstalking your ex. It’s a one-way street (the tool can only send messages) but it’s cool nonetheless.
- Twapper is a client for mobiles. Created by 30 Boxes, masters of the online calendar, the little app runs on your phone and gathers your Twitter feeds. It’s main purpose is to provide freedom from the deluge of SMS messages that can bury the active Twitter users. It also has support for Flickr images, enabling photo sharing over Twitter.
- Google Talk Widget. Google just launched this widget (or "gadget" in Goog-speak) that implants Google Talk on your Google Homepage. Now you can IM from your homepage, which of course means you can Twitter from your homepage, too. Just add twitter@twitter.com to your Google contact list and feel the Ajaxy, Twittery goodness.
- TwitterPost for the Mac. Although Twitteriffic is currently winning the hearts of Mac Twitter users, you’ve got a strong second option in RAILhead design’s TwitterPost. It uses the Aqua interface, so it looks more "Mac-y" than the others. TwitterPost also integrates with your other Mac apps like iTunes (posts your current track) and iChat (posts your chat status).
- Twittermap. Twitter lets you read where your friends are, but what if you want to actually see how close they are? David Troy’s mashup bridges that divide by plotting Twitter location data on a Google Map. Update your meatspace info on Twitter by sending "L:94107" or "L:San Francisco, CA" or some other mappable location.
- TinyURL. The URL-shortening web service is a Twitter tool? You betcha. If you want to say anything meaningful in those 144 characters, you’ve got to keep those URL short short short!
