(also published on July 12 at Social Media Today)
Over a year ago, I wrote about Tweetdeck as my preferred desktop application to manage my Twitter account. Shortly after, I was introduced to Mixero, which I tried, didn’t understand and summarily dismissed. After a few more months of thinking there just had to be something better, I gave Mixero another try. This time, I watched the video on their Web site to figure out what I missed the previous attempt, and I haven’t looked back since.
As a disclaimer, I still use Hootsuite to schedule those Tweets with links to articles and blogs to be spread out over a full day instead of all going at the same time. I also prefer Hootsuite’s ht.ly shortener so I can measure clickthroughs, but hate how much desktop real estate it takes up. But for day-to-day ongoing monitoring and management of my Twitter account, Mixero pretty much runs on my laptop 24/7.
Like Tweetdeck, Mixero runs on Adobe Air. Unlike Tweetdeck (and Hootsuite), Mixero gives you much better control over your desktop. While Mixero doesn’t have some of the functionality of Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite), it more than makes up for it by making all the functionality most users need simpler, cleaner and taking up less space on your desktop.
The first thing you’ll appreciate about Mixero is the way it runs in the background when you’re engaged in other tasks. “Avatar mode” takes all the information you need…multiple accounts, groups, and new messages, replies and DMs and puts it in a semi-transparent one inch wide column at the edge of your desktop.
New messages in any groups/lists or channels are notated by means of an orange highlight with the number of new messages displayed. Mentions and Direct Messages also are highlighted, and a simple mouseover shows you the most recent message. Settings allow you to have it play a sound if you want to be notified of new posts, but the colored highlights are enough notice for me (and don’t drive my dogs crazy like the sounds do).
Anytime you want to expand a group/list, or see all your mentions or DM’s, you simply click on any of the icons, and Mixero expands to a solid mode, but still only takes of section of the desktop. The column contains messages that take up significantly less space than either Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. A column that displays only 5 messages in either of those displays 9-10 in Mixero.
Every expanded column allows you to filter the results by keyword, by users…by clicking on small avatars, all displayed at the top of the column…or both. You can also filter results by whether they contain replies, mark all as read, and display only the unread ones.
Each message contains a user avatar, and if the post is part of a conversation, icons display the other posts in that conversation as a small pop up. If the post itself contains a link to a photo, the photo displays in small pop-up. Other functionality available in each post includes single click reply, reply all, Retweet (classic or Twitter style adjustable in settings), Direct Message, mark as a favorite, translate from a foreign language, block user and report as spam.
Clicking on any person’s name displays their time line in a full column, and tabs at the top allow you switch from time line to display of all tweets between you and them, and a profile display (with a notes field so you can add your own info about them). You can easily follow (or unfollow) from the profile view. Adding that person to a fully synchronized Mixero group/Twitter list is as simple as clicking on the list name. Several intuitive hot spots allow you to double click and go directly to the function you’d expect it to on the Twitter.com interface.
Mixero had groups before Twitter had lists, and in recent versions added full synchronization of its groups with Twitter public and private lists. Mixero’s handling of groups is just one of several outstanding features that you can access when you expand the right panel. Also included in those options are channels (fully customized searches), followed lists, trending topics, and chats. The “contacts” column shows all your follows, sorted by group, with any ungrouped follows in a separate group a the bottom. Adding follows into a group is simple and you can select or even upload unique avatars for your groups to make them easy to spot when you add them to your main column.
There are a million other features, but the last big difference between Mixero and the others are the detachable, re-sizable columns. If you’re the type that doesn’t want to manage Twitter via a small column on the edge of your screen, you can choose, detach, drag, re-size and even stack whichever columns you choose to take up as much, or as little space as you want. As you fill your desktop, you’ll be amazed at the number and variety of tweets. Here’s a view of my typical full screen (sized at 1440 x 900). Compared with a full screen view of Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, I can’t believe that anyone would be content with the comparative lack of visible, manageable Tweets.
As big a fan of Tweetdeck as I was, I’ve downloaded Tweetdeck updates several times since switching to Mixero, but each time I open it up, I’m immediately struck by just how much better Mixero is. As I mentioned previously, I still use Hootsuite, but if Mixero ever adds scheduled, measurable Tweets, I’ll be saying to goodbye to Hootsuite like I did to Tweetdeck.
Mixero still may not be your cup of tea. With a plethora of Twitter tools available, finding one that you’re comfortable with may result in a search that also includes Seesmic, PeopleBrowsr, Statuzer and a few others. But you owe it to yourself to at least check out Mixero.
Like the others, Mixero is free and available for download at Mixero.com. Be sure to watch the video (and read their blog) to get a tutorial on all the features.
People who follow me on Twitter know that a prominent component of the way I use that Social Networking tool is to post links to helpful articles. As the primary brand voice of Trivera, my goal is to help people learn both about me and FROM me. And so while just about any time of day, you’ll see me using Twitter to opine, engage, interact, and sometimes just be goofy, every weekday during business hours my Tweet-stream contains posts like: “5 reasons your Web site is losing money http://ow.ly/1wqy,” “19 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog http://ow.ly/1vZCT“ and “10 signs your iPad has made you the most annoying person ever http://ow.ly/1vGUQ.”
Those articles come from blogs, email newsletters and forums and are specifically chosen to help you become better at what you do, and show up about once an hour between 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday. Whether you’re a small business owner, Web developer, marketing professional, or just a student of the digital world, the articles I link to are specifically, and strategically selected to give you a few nuggets of helpful wisdom in a quick read (or scan).
Part of my daily regimen is an early morning check of my RSS feeds, industry newsletters and a few quirky and obscure Web sites to find informational resources for myself. Of the hundred or so articles I see, and the 20 or 30 I read, I pick the 7 or 8 that really represent the cream of the crop and share them with my Twitter followers. The common denominator is that they’re short, well written, accurate, organized, timely and helpful. I often re-write the headline if I think I can better communicate the benefit of the information and improve the likelihood that people will go read them. And I use Hootsuite to shorten the URL and schedule them to trickle out during the day rather than deluge everyone with a flood of information all at once.
Some critics have questioned why I do it, pointing out that they can get all of this in their own RSS feed. But I know from my own daily exercise that, because anyone can blog, much of what fills the blogosphere is poorly written, filled with errors, or both. I’ve earned the trust of my followers to be the filter that only allows the best of the best.
The evidence shows that I must be doing something right. In addition to shortening long URLS and allowing me to schedule my posts, Hootsuite allows me to measure metrics. Since I began doing this and keeping track a little over a year ago, over 31,000 people have clicked through to read what I’ve posted. And by even being able to see which articles are the most clicked on, it allows me to fine tune the choice of articles to make sure that I’m tweeting the types of content that people find most helpful.
The good news is that you don’t even have to be on Twitter to benefit from the articles. Bookmark this link and just my tweets with shortened links will show up in your browser. If you have an RSS reader, add this feed to it, and the articles will show up there.
Since we’ve been in business, it’s been my goal raise the level of the Web intelligence of the market. I don’t have the time to blog as often as I’d like, and even when I do, someone else has probably already blogged about my topic before. But the combination of these articles and my blogs (which also end up in these Tweets and feeds), seem to be doing a great job of educating the market. In addition to making followers smarter, it also establishes me as an authority without having to spend hours a week writing my own blogs, which is a tactic we also recommend to some of our clients.
The world of the Web is changing rapidly. Web 1.0 is giving way to Web 2.0. While many of my tips are focused on Social Media, I still link to articles on Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing and making your site successful. But there’s no doubt where the market is headed, and by following my posts, you can be equipped with the information you need to ride the wave.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the most clicked through article ever is You’re doing Social Media. That’s good. But not Mobile? Uh-oh…
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
Since day one, our mission at Trivera has always been to help our client companies become more successful by using Internet technology to improve their brand relationships. And while Twitter is being lauded in many circles as the second coming of the Web, for us, and our clients, it’s simply another tool that will either enhance or erode our brands. The first step for most of them is to have individuals within their organizations get acquainted with Twitter itself, and we’re finding them quickly getting overwhelmed. So today, I want to begin a discussion about a couple tools that we’re using and recommending to help keep Twitter in its proper place.
Millions of conversations are happening at any moment on Twitter. The primary challenge is to figure out which of those conversations are going to be relevant and useful to you and your company. Your corporate strategy will determine who you’ll follow and why, who you’ll want to have follow you and why. It will dictate the types of conversations you’ll want to monitor. And finally, it will help you decide which conversations to simply mine data from, which ones you’ll actively participate in, and what your Twitter “personality” will be when you do (a topic for a future blog).
When you only have a few followers, Twitter itself can manage the tweets. And Twitter’s search function can allow the casual user to feed their curiosity as to what’s going on. However, you’ll soon find that your numbers of followers and relevant tweets will begin to grow. And because of the sheer immensity of data, managing the streams of tweets that result will be a task that could take over your life.
Tweetdeck has become the most important tool in my toolbox to keep that from happening. Running as a desktop application on the Adobe Air platform, Tweetdeck gives you up to ten columns to organize your tweets. So instead of having the firehose experience Twitter.com provides, you can manage tweets into drinkable streams.
Tweetdeck’s “Add to Group” function allows you to determine who goes into one of your columns. Even though you may have hundreds or thousands of followers, there are only a handful that will provide the meaningful dialogue and relationships that will be at the core of your daily routine. My Tweetdeck is set up so that column one is my “Real Follows”consisting of about 30 people that I regularly monitor and engage. Adding a follower to that group is simple. And if I want to remove someone from that group, that allows me to perform an “unfollow” that still allows someone to be a follow, without having to see every single thing they post.
I have a “Replies” and “Direct Messages” column set up so that I can easily see those conversations. And I also keep a column for all friends so that if I want to take the time to jump into the current torrent of tweets, it’s always there… but I keep it all the way over to the right so I have to scroll to get to it.
I also have two columns to subgroup other “friends.” One is a group for several industry leaders I follow. Their tweets usually contain great tips, personal insight, industry inside info, and articles. The second group is my news group, where I follow general local, regional and national news sources. I have been able to turn off all my email news alerts, so they no longer clutter my email inbox.
I also use the search feature to create columns of tweets pertinent to specific subject outside of that provided by my “friends.” These allow me to find great information about topics of interest, and, because it searches all the Tweets, it helps me find new “follows.” I have a column set up to display all the Tweets with the word Milwaukee, but you can use whatever term (or terms) you want to monitor… industry or geographically specific.
With your remaining columns, you have other options. You can display TwitScoop to show the words that are ebbing and flowing in the Twitterverse consciousness. You can display “Favorites,” where a tweet you want to view later can be stored before it drops off the bottom. And, if you’re like me, you’ll keep one column available for an on-demand search for the people, terms and concepts that will come up from time to time.
You can set the number of tweets you want to display in your columns, and filter the column to display only those in that column that meet search criteria. You can mark any tweet as read, and clear those to keep them from cluttering the column. And when a username is displayed in a tweet, clicking it displays their profile, allows you to follow or unfollow and immediately modify what group they should be in.
There are tons of other features in Tweetdeck that will help organize your Twitter experience, and help you maintain your sanity. You’ll learn them as you become more familiar with (and thankful for) the tool. One shortcoming is the memory it uses, especially when your followers number in the tens of thousands. But that’s a bridge you can cross when you come to it.
Before you jump in and actually begin to tweet yourself…especially if you’re representing your company’s brand…you’ll want to take a little time to “lurk,” and get a feel for how things work. And my next blog will talk about how important it is to define your Twitter “personality” before that first tweet. Another future blog will feature another amazing tool that will allow you be a part of the ongoing conversations all day long, even if you only have time to jump in once or twice a day.
And if you’re following me on Twitter, or are subscribed to my RSS feed, you’ll be the first to hear when those blogs are published.
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk. |
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