So if it isn’t obvious by the big blue box on the right hand side, I spend a fair amount of time on Twitter. My favorite piece of Twitter-related software is TweetDeck. It really works fantastically and has the features I want (like being notified only for replies & dm’s). My biggest complaint against TweetDeck is that it doesn’t support multiple users (more on why in a moment). I’ve also tried Twhirl, which is specifically designed for multiple accounts, which is cool. The interface on it is a bit more annoying, and takes getting used to, plus it either _always_ pings you to let you know of news tweets, or not at all. Now I follow about 150 or so people, not many compared to others, but enough that every minute or two the software updates, I’ve got new tweets.
So why do I have multiple Twitter accounts? Let me first say that it is for nothing nefarious. I am usually relegated to my own account (@ShakataGaNai), where I can wax and wane about nothing important (much like the ABC7 anchors do during a low speed car chase in LA). I started up an account for the company I work for (not linked) mainly due to the @Room214 debacle. I figured it was safer to create and tweet something once in a while, than let someone else grab it. Lastly, I’ve recently been put in co-charge of the official Wikinews account (@en_wikinews). On that account I’m mainly just in charge of replying to people, and being interactive, someone else posts breaking news and TwitterFeed still puts the headlines in. It is a lot of fun, plus Wikinews has a lot more followers than I do.
Some other useful tools I’ve found are: TweetStats — gives you a broad idea of when you post, what you post with and who you reply to most. TwitterCounter — counts your followers, graphs them over time and gives you predictions on how many you’ll have in a month based on current projections.
Oh, and a small plug for @TheBilly and his site DeathCarrot.com. If you are feeling generous you should stop by and donate to his “My iPhone got Stolen” fund. Because really, we’re all geeks, and how would you feel if your PDA/SmartPhone got stolen and you couldn’t replace it?