The following is a short list Twitter tools that may be useful to you as you try to get the most from your Twitter account(s).
1) One tool that can be useful as you try to build your Twitter following is FriendorFollow.com. This site quickly lets you know who you’re following that is not following you back. It also gives you a list of those who are following you, that you are not following. These lists can be useful as you decide who to add to your follow list, and who to unfollow.
2) Another tool I’ve found to be extremely useful is TweetDeck.com. TweetDeck is a personal browser that allows you to sort the accounts you’re following into easy-to-manage groups. TweetDeck allows you to focus on a smaller subset of the accounts you’re following. Another feature built into Tweetdeck is a URL shortener, which allows you to include links in your updates without wasting as many precious characters on those links.
3) For those times when you’re not using a Twitter mangement tool such as TweetDeck, a separate URL-shortener will come in handy. One that works well and is easy to use is TinyUrl. It takes a URL of any length and shortens it to a very manageable 25 characters.
4) As a Twitter user, you’ll soon have images you’d like to share with your followers. My favorite way to share images is with Twitpic.com. This free service allows you to quickly upload an image and turn it into an update with built-in link. Here’s an example of a Twitpic my wife took of me in Rutland, Vermont in front of a store called Mr. Twitters. Twitpic also saves your previously uploaded images, so followers can elect to view all of your past updates.
These are just a few of my favorites. If you are looking for more good Twitter tools, try looking at this great article http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/development/27-twitter-tools-to-help-you-find-and-manage-followers/.
Twitter Professor is not affiliated with Twitter. Chris S. Cornell is not actually a professor, but he is interested in helping build local Twitter communities. Try following his new Twitter account ContentHarvest. Feel free to add constructive comments, questions or criticisms in the comments section. If you are building your own local Twitter community, or know of a particularly good one, include the Twitter address in your post.
