As of June 2015, Twitter remains among the ten most popular websites in the world, and still a favorite here at Wafflesatnoon. Serious users know that apps can greatly enhance the Twitter experience. Here is a look at some popular apps for Twitter.
Let’s first take a look at some of the more popular Twitter tools.
5 Recommended Tools
Many business on Twitter consider this their go-to app. With Hootsuite you can post to multiple social media networks at the same time, enjoy built-in link shortening, and view such things as pending tweets, mentions, etc, in a customizable interface. The ability to schedule future posts is a particular favorite. The bulk uploader may seem a bit clumsy at first, but will likely win you over once you get the hang of it. Hootsuite, for many, is an essential social media tool.
The Twitter interface doesn’t offer optimal tools to manage the list of those you follow, especially if you follow more than a couple hundred people. Manageflitter allows you to sort this list in a more robust manner than Twitter itself. You can see who hasn’t tweeted in ages, who tweets too much for your tastes, who hasn’t followed you back, and about any other option you can think up. Another new feature is allowing you to post to your Twitter profile via Google+. Once you use Manageflitter, you’ll be hard-pressed to give it up. There is a paid option which includes even more features.
Followerwonk is a great took for for finding targeted profiles to follow. It offers the ability to do more refined searches than Twitter itself offers. So for example, if you are a small business looking for people in your area to follow, Followerwonk will allow you to find them with their powerful search tools much easier than similar searches within Twitter.
Twitter’s own Tweetdeck is arguably the most powerful of the bunch, providing a similar experience to Hootsuite, with some differences. You can set up panels for such things as mentions, search phrases, and feeds for multiple accounts. Like Hootsuite, you can schedule tweets in advance. While you can’t upload future tweets in bulk as you can with Hootsuite, there appears to be no limit to the number of tweets you can queue up. Over the past four years, I have almost completely replaced the default Twitter client with Tweetdeck.
Tweetcaster (Mobile app)
Tweetcaster has a beautiful interface which allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts. You may receive notifications for a business or private Twitter account, all from the same app. There are even some advanced search tools that beat some desktop Twitter apps.
Twitter apps not recommend:
This app seeks to reduce fake followers and spammers by offering a validation service. Although the app seems well-intended, it has a couple of shortcomings. First, unlike most of the other apps which connect via your Twitter login, this one requires you – and anyone who wants to follow you – to sign up. Next, most people don’t care who follows them, so why go through such a service to restrict that? Further, if you’re concerned about spammers and followers, you can merely select “Protect my tweets” in the Twitter options to require authorization of followers. It seems like Truetwit’s value doesn’t fall much beyond Twitter’s built-in capabilities. Finally, anyone who tries to follow you with Truetwit enabled will receive a message that they must sign up in order to follow you. I know that when I see one of those Truetwit direct messages, I delete it and forget about following that person – and I’m sure I’m not alone in that sentiment. So while you may have less fake followers (which isn’t really an issue for most people), you very well may have less real followers as well. Not a valuable trade-off.
The idea behind Fllwrs is good – sort of like Manageflitter, where you can keep track of who follows you and who doesn’t. Fllwrs doesn’t have as many features, and will post the dreaded “so-and-so unfollowed me today [checked by fllwrs.com]” – and this message is the primary reason I don’t use it. I unfollow people all the time – typically because I find their tweets to be irrelevant or uninteresting – but I don’t particularly want those unfollows announced to the world. Plus, maybe you were unfollowed for a reason; do you want to announce that?
Twiends has evolved since this article was first posted in 2011. Originally it was set up with a system of “seeds” which you could spend to “buy” follows on Twitter. It is now set up with a more subtle system of “discovery” where you can browse other followers you may be interested in following. It has also added Instagram in addition to Twitter. Most of the followers I’ve gained from this app were fake, spammy, or uninteresting profiles – and a large percentage of those ended up unfollowing me shortly after I followed them. I eventually ended up unfollowing many of the ones I followed as well. Twiends has improved since 2011, but its benefits to me still remain somewhat elusive.
There are countless Twitter apps out there, some good, some bad, and some in between. This list is by no means exhaustive, but includes those apps I have personally used and found to be useful or not.
Updated June 20, 2015
Originally published December 2011
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