Twitter can be an extremely valuable and useful resource, and also very fun, but only if used to its full potential. If you are new to twitter, and only just starting to get to grips with the service then you might wonder what all the fuss is about, I know I did when I first signed up (in fact I held off signing up for so long for just that reason).

I think Twitter really comes in to its own though when you start using the various tools available to make Twitter work for you, in the way that you want it to. I had considered writing a bit of a post about what Twitter is and how it can be used but I think that is covered excellently by the page at Tweeternet so rather than go over that again, I have decided to collect together some of the tools that I use which make Twitter such a great service for me. Here is that list, in alphabetical order:

juan-48x48_bigger1Dabr – http://www.dabr.co.uk

Described sometimes as “m.twitter.com on steroids” this little page is great for connecting with mobile devices such as phones or PDAs. It splits down your messages into the normal home feed, your replies and your direct messages, so it can make it easier to handle sources and method of reply etc. This is the homepage of the PDA I use for twittering when downstairs away from the computer.

polldaddy1

Polldaddy – http://twitter.polldaddy.com/

One thing that Twitter is great for is asking questions, be that asking for help with something you need to know or are stuck with, or alternatively you might just want people’s opinion on something. If it’s the latter, then often a poll can be a great way to quickly and easily get those opinions from your followers, so something like Polldaddy makes that as quick and simple as possible.

twe2

Twe2 – http://www.twe2.com

Until recently Twitter used to offer the ability to receive SMS updates, but sadly this was ceased for most of Europe. Along came the nice people at Twe2 to provide this service again, still free of charge. Sign up to their service and you can get instant SMS updates to your phone when you get an @reply or direct message to your twitter account. SMS can be limited to XX per hour, and you can also limit the hours during which SMS will be sent so as not to disturb your sleep.

tweetdeck_128

TweetDeck - http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

Keeping the Twitter page open or remembering to check it periodically can become annoying very quick, so I recommend that you download and install a local desktop client to use Twitter through. Personally I like the layout and features of TweetDeck, splitting the messages, @replies and direct messages up into their own columns, much like the previously mentioned Dabr. It also has the ability to monitor Twitscoop so you can see subjects and topics that are trending on Twitter, a great way of keeping on top of the news as it happens, often even before it hits the major news sites. Add in simple, or often even automatic, URL shortening to make best use of those precious 140 characters and this really is an excellent client. Available for Windows or Mac via the Adobe Air Platform. [And Linux, thanks to Chris in the comments for letting me know!]

tweetertags

TweeterTags – http://www.tweetertags.com

Finding like minded people on Twitter can take a while, and can often prove fruitless without trawling through friends-of-friends to find people with similar interest. At least, that is how it used to be until Tweetertags came along. This excellent service lets you tag yourself with the subjects and topics that interest you, such as ‘photography’ or perhaps ‘rock’ and have people find you via those tags. You can browse through the tags other people have assigned themselves, and when looking in any particular tag you are able to see a list of everyone who has tagged themselves, and go to their profile to follow them if you decide to. There is simply no better way to find likeminded tweeple than TweeterTags.

tweetie

Tweetie – http://www.atebits.com/software/tweetie/

Not being an iPhone user I have no idea about which app is best to use for iPhone, so I had to turn to the good people of Twitter and see what they recommended. The overwhelming response was that Tweetie is by far and away the best, and most fully featured app for using Twitter from an iPhone. Not being a user of it I can’t say much more than that, but due to the device’s market share I couldn’t really write a post about Twitter apps without including at least one iPhone client.

tweetlater

TweetLater – http://www.tweetlater.com

When I first saw this service, I really couldn’t see much point in it, but the more and more I used Twitter the more I have come to love this service. The ability to send out tweets at a pre-scheduled time can be great for things such as birthday reminders, scheduled blog posts you want to tweet out, keep a constant stream of tweets going while you are away from the computer or perhaps to just space out a bunch of tweets you need to send in order to avoid flooding your followers timelines.

twhirl

Twhirl – http://www.twhirl.org

Some people are limited by the amount of desktop real estate they can or will give over to twitter, in which case a client such as TweetDeck might just be too much for them. If you are looking for a smaller client that is still very useable and offers most of the features of TweetDeck, then you should consider taking a look at Twhirl, which offers a smaller interface much like that of an instant messaging client. Like TweetDeck this runs on Adobe Air, so is available for both Windows and Mac. [And Linux, thanks to Chris in the comments for letting me know!]

twibble

Twibble – http://www.twibble.de/twibble-mobile/

One of the great things about twitter is being able to connect to masses of people at any time, from anywhere. To make that work properly when you are out and about (and to get a Twitter fix when you are addicted!) you are going to need a client on your mobile phone. Twibble is an excellent client for this, working on any Java enabled mobile phone, and with integrated Twitpic you can upload those pics as they happen straight from your mobile.

twitpic

TwitPic – http://www.twitpic.com

If you have a photo you want to share on Twitter, then by far the best and most popular way is to use the TwitPic service. Simply upload your picture, either via the computer or even direct from your mobile phone and they will even send out the tweet for you to announce it to your followers.

I’ve added the links to all of these tools to the navigation bar of this site so you don’t have to find this post if you come back later in search of them. This list is by no means exhaustive, and I would love to hear about any other Twitter tools you find useful via the comments at the bottom of the article.

~Shepy