Battle of the Twitter Clients: Goodbye TweetDeck, Hello HootSuite

POSTED BY: Rowan Stanfield   /  CATEGORIES: Online PR Agency, Social Media Agency, Social Media Marketing, Twitter
POSTED ON: 12 Nov 2009
TAGS: Rowan Stanfield, Social Media, Social Media Agency, Tools, Twitter, Twitter tools

There are so many Twitter tools and apps out there now, that even for those of us who take an active interest in new developments, it’s hard to keep up. One sure fire way for me to stay on the ball is by regularly checking out what my even geekier friends are using.

In a random sweep of my Twitter stream, TweetDeck comes top of the pops as the most used Twitter client – a theory endorsed by Lifehacker’s recent poll. It’s not hard to see why TweetDeck is so popular – out of all the application based desktop Twitter clients it is arguably the most simple, is customisable and has most of the functionality a standard Twitter user would want. Personally, though, I never took to TweetDeck and having tried the more heavyweight Seesmic Desktop for a few months, recently ditched both and became a HootSuite convert. Here’s why.

HootSuite is a web based client, so there is no software to download and you can access your account, just as you left it, from any computer. From an agency perspective it’s incredibly useful to be able to set up a HootSuite account for a client that you can both log into and manage – thanks to the multiple user capability.

Like Seesmic and Tweedeck, HootSuite also has multiple account functionality (perfect for agency life!) but because you have to physically tick a box before posting a tweet, it is virtually impossible to send it from the wrong account (unlike in Seesmic, which automatically posts from the last account you used unless you change it).

The column based layout of HootSuite is similar to TweetDeck and Seesmic and just as customisable, but it also has tabs along the top for switching between accounts – much more practical, and less confusing, than having them appear in additional columns.

HootSuite, with its neat column and tabs layout

Perhaps my favourite thing about HootSuite is its integrated toolset – not only a native link shortening service, ow.ly (TweetDeck and Seesmic use third party ones like bit.ly), with in-built stats, but also a tweet scheduling tool that replaces the need for external services such as Twuffer. It also sports a handy Feeds feature for automatically tweeting updates from your blog, YouTube, Flickr etc. – should you so desire (I don’t).

HootSuite’s in-built stats package

HootSuite also makes it easy for you to share web pages with its Hootlet toolbar add-on, which automatically connects with your account so you can tweet a (pre-shortened) url from any of your profiles via a neat little pop up box:

Those who have used HootSuite in the past may remember its old format which was a bit like Brizzly is now – essentially a redesigned simple Twitter interface in a single web page that lets you move between different accounts without logging in and out. These days, with the new columns and tabs layout, HootSuite has evolved into a serious contender in the big league of Twitter clients, especially useful for those of us managing multiple accounts and regularly using Twitter tools.

I’m starting to recommend HootSuite more and more to clients who are new to Twitter as an easy way to manage, monitor and engage with their followers. The lack of software and intuitive interface seems to appeal and I have had mostly very positive feedback from those currently using it. Some have commented that the bright colours and cartoonish appearance are a bit of a turn-off, but in most other ways, HootSuite ticks all the boxes. In a nutshell:

• Web based Twitter client
• Customisable drag-and-droppable column-based layout
• Tabs for multiple accounts
• Multiple user functionality
• Integrated link shortening, with click-through stats
• Integrated tweet scheduling
• RSS/Atom feed functionality
• Toolbar add-on for tweeting favourite web pages

Give HootSuite a whirl if you haven’t already – and let us know what you think. What other Twitter clients are you using at the moment? Any recommendations?

POSTED BY: Rowan Stanfield   /  CATEGORIES: Online PR Agency, Social Media Agency, Social Media Marketing, Twitter
POSTED ON: 12 Nov 2009
TAGS: Rowan Stanfield, Social Media, Social Media Agency, Tools, Twitter, Twitter tools