Seven Top Twitter Tools

By Branko Miletic

Are people making the most of their Twitter account?  I don’t believe they are. There is more to Twitter than being just a micro-blogging broadcast tool. If you want to find someone on Twitter, follow a group, change the way you upload messages and pictures, or if you want to analyse how effective your Tweets really are, there are more than 200 plus apps to choose from. Of course, developers are always over-doing the functionality of a site, so the shear overload features become a blur so you put them into the ‘too hard’ basket. Which is a pity. Because amongst all the blather are some little nuggets. I have managed to pare down the these tools to the seven that I think you’ll find useful. In no particular order…

Video Tweets for the masses
Do you like to Tweet videos instead of words? Twivid is a video sharing app that allows you to post videos and follow other video posters. One of the more useful Twitter apps considering how Twitter only allows 140 characters at any one time. Now you can forget that and post videos, where the word count is irrelevant.

Cash my Tweet
Ever wanted to make some money from all those Tweets you do at work, home or on the train or bus? If so, then go to Twittad and sign up. According to the site, it’s the largest and most effective form of sponsored advertising on Twitter and offers you an opportunity to monetise your Twitter stream in a fully disclosed and ethical manner, so if you want to turn Tweets into Twenties, then off you go to Twittad.

Follow me, follow you
Not sure as to who to follow on Twitter?  Then try giving WeFollow a whirl. This is a Twitter directory and search engine that will help you find Twitter followers across a number categories like sports, entertainment, music and politics.

How big is your Tweet?
So you want to measure your influence or know how important you really are on Twitter? Sign up to Klout and in no time, your online importance across a number of verticals and categories will be measured. Just be prepared to be realistic- there are many Tweeters out there and you may well be somewhat invisible so you may be like me and get a score of 15, which is quite low.

Twitter for the visually tweaked
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to read tweets slowly, in peace and quiet and actually be able to see the words without needing a microscope? Trickle has been designed for exactly that. Trickle is a passive Twitter client. Simply launch it and watch it cycle through tweets, one at a time, full-screen, in glorious white Helvetica on black. Totally old school.

Spot that word
With so many things being discussed on Twitter, one way to find out how certain words, phrases or ideas are connected is to use Social Collider. This is a totally awesome tool and even if you don’t need it, it’s well worth a look and play. Social Collider works by revealing the cross-connections between all the conversations on Twitter. As I said it is totally awesome- and also a bit freaky at the same time.

Shine my little Tweet
Who wants to have the same old Twitter layout, look, feel and/background when you can go totally custom on your look? To do so, you’ll need an app likeTwylah that gives you the option to design you Twitter page so it tells the story of you or your brand. So if you want to personalise your Twitter profile design, then high tail it toTwylah.