5 Really Useful, Really Easy Twitter Tools

Here are five Twitter tools to give insight or new functionality to your Twitter experience, without requiring much more than a login on your part. These utilities are so self-explanatory, I hardly feel the need to add descriptions. But that’s what makes them worthwhile: instant benefit and utility with minimal explanation.

Review of Twitter Helpers

I’ve used each of these consistently, so I can personally vouch for their value. Each is good for a different function, and while not necessarily the most feature-rich, the benefit is immediate and actionable — those are the criteria I’m evaluating for the purposes of this post. See if you agree.

1. Dynamic Tweets

Before I started using Hootsuite (not detailed here because it’s slightly more intricate), I was a longtime user of Dynamic Tweets to schedule tweets. You pick a date, compose your tweet, and you’re all set. It works especially well for recurring tweets, such as yearly holiday-themed tweets.

2. ManageFilter

Does it annoy you when someone doesn’t follow you back? Hey, it happens. Check out ManageFilter to see who’s not following you back , when you started following them, and other useful details that can help weed out your stream.

3. TweetStats

If you’re a visual learner like I am, you’ll love TweetStats. It’s a detailed, informative representation in chart form of how your Twitter activity looks to the outside world. It’s a good way to keep tabs on what you’re sharing, and to help balance your efforts if needed. NOTE: TweetStats is sometimes buggy or slow to load, but it’s worth the wait — just let it do its thing and try again later if it gets stuck. In the meantime, If you’re looking for something similar but not as detailed, check outTweetcharts.

4. InboxQ

Here’s a super-handy tool for finding questions being asked on Twitter, based on subjects of your choosing. Did you just write a cool blog post about photo sharing networks as alternatives to Instagram? Maybe you’re making a sweet Pinterest board of awesome iPhoneography? Just enter some associated keywords and you can easily engage with like-minded folk on Twitter.

5. Fakers - by StatusPeople

Ever wonder how many of your followers are bots or spam accounts? This utility will break it down for you by percentage.

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What do you think? Have you ever used any of these utilities? What are some Twitter utilities you like that aren’t listed here? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• It is not only what you Tweet, but When You Tweet It(interactive360.wordpress.com)
• Lemmetweetthatforyou- Screenshot Of Fake Tweets (twi5.com)
• Does Louise Mensch have 80,000 fake followers on Twitter?(newstatesman.com)
• 25 Things That Make You Look Dumb on Twitter (blogs.constantcontact.com)
• TwitterVision- Locate The Tweets (twi5.com)
• Roundteam- Build Community On Twitter (twi5.com)
• Twitter Is Working On A Tool To Let You Download All Of Your Old Tweets(businessinsider.com)
• The First 10 Things to Do When Getting Started on Twitter(blogs.constantcontact.com)
• Staying Afloat in The Sea of Twitter Analytics (ignitesocialmedia.com)

Social Media Selectiveness

Where are your contacts landing?
Photo by Håkan Dahlström / Edit by rsmithing.
Click for original.

Are social networks a gamble? Do you spin-off your contacts from one to the next?

With each new social network I actively participate in, beyond simply creating an account for, I become more selective with the people I follow. This started with MySpace. Initially, I followed bands and other folks whose profiles seemed vaguely interesting. I made some real friends (still in touch to this day), and as my offline friends got into social networking, I racked up contacts at a steady clip. This was fun until MySpace started to go downhill with spammers and overly customized profiles. But that was fine, because Facebook was ready with open arms as a fresh start.

Facebook Got This Right

Once on Facebook (just after they opened up beyond universities in 2006), I made it a point only to add familiar folks and people I knew in “real life.” What a difference this made! Pretty soon, I was reading status updates on MySpace about how folks were abandoning their profiles there and going to the cleaner, faster, more relevant Facebook. It’s my theory that this “fresh start” element was part of Facebook’s early mass appeal. That they got other things right also helped — photo sharing is what really sold me on embracing Facebook.

The one exception is Twitter, where following can become a free for all. Being selective there is somewhat counter to the experience, because content there moves so fast. I personally tell folks new to Twitter that until they follow about 200 active users, the experience just won’t be that interesting. I also use lists to sort those I’m interested in, some of whom I may or may not follow.

That said, I’ve been selective about my Instagram, LinkedIn, and nowPinterest accounts. As I’ve become familiar with Pinterest, I’ve found the experience at the site more rewarding now that I have a stream of cool and inspiring images coming in– rather than lame pictures from folks I don’t even know (or may actually know, but whose tastes don’t match mine).

So did LinkedIn

LinkedIn is another example of the fresh start approach, at least in my experience. The longer I’m there, the more steadily my colleagues trickle in. And I can truly say I’ve worked with, done business with, or somehow professionally interacted with each contact there. For me, LinkedIn represents quality over quantity rather than a numbers game.

Who’s Next?

My theory is that Pinterest will experience similar adoption, but these are still early days, and the site is more about visual content than social interaction. Only recently have I gotten serious about the site, and it takes some work to findboards to follow that really catch my eye. I think that’s a good thing for now, since it keeps the content I see relevant – not unlike when I signed up for Facebook after ditching MySpace a few social networks ago.

Did you welcome Facebook as a fresh start from MySpace? Do you welcome Pinterest as a fresh start from Instagram, now that Facebook owns Instagram? Do you follow people on different social networks all the same way, or does your criteria change from one to the other? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Related articles

• The Instagram Story (socialsamosa.com)
• On Our Radar: MySpace Fashion Rolls Out New Features (fabsugar.com)
• Facebook will disappear in the next 5 years – here’s what will replace it(postdesk.com)
• MySpace set to relaunch in late 2012 (slashgear.com)
•  3 Instagram Alternatives: Beyond Facebook’s Instabillion Buy(rsmithing.com)
• You need to become a total slut on social media (chrisabraham.com)
• Facebook will remain king, but social pure plays will fade (socialmedia.biz)