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Twitter Add-Ons and Tools
After reading the first and second parts of our three-part Twitter blog series you must be tweeting, following, RTing, DMing, hashtagging, replying, and mentioning your heart out. Now that you have mastered the basics of Twitter we are going to take you one step further and introduce some important add-ons and tools for the advanced Twitter user!
Tweeting on the fly!
Have you ever been surfing the Internet and come across something that immediately inspires you to tweet? It’s the Internet, of course you have! Don’t you wish there was a way to tweet with the same immediacy that the inspiration struck you? Well now there is, it’s called TwitThis.
TwitThis is a program that works like a bookmark with the big difference being that instead of storing the website or thought in a menu, it is tweeted directly to your feed. You can send a tweet out to all your followers without ever having to leave the page you’re viewing!
For you bloggers out there, TwitThis has a feature that allows you to embed a “Tweet This” button right on your website. That way if people want to share your site with their followers, and we hope they do, all they have to do is click!
While you may understand how to use Twitter, you may still be struggling with obtaining a significant following. Being able to interact with your friends and family is a great way to use Twitter, but if you’re trying to reach a much larger audience and become an influential tweeter, you may need some help expanding your audience.
In the last Twitter blog posts we discussed different ways to grow and engage your audience through meaningful content. But what if the people who follow you are not interested in the same sorts of things that you are? If this is the case, your chances of being retweeted and seen by more people decrease dramatically. The simple solution is to find people who are tweeting about the same things that you are. FriendOrFollow allows you to do just that!
Follow me!
FriendOrFollow is an add-on that lets you submit yourself into an online directory of Twitter users. All you have to do is tweet @wefollow with three hashtags (#) that describe you. So for example, if you were a fashion blogger you might want to tweet “@wefollow #fashion #blog #deals”. Once you have done this you are entered into a searchable directory based on your description. This is a great way to search for people to follow based on their interests and can land you in a Twitter circle that reflects your interests and hobbies.
After perusing FriendOrFollow, beefing up your “following” list, and interacting with your new Twitter buddies, you may begin to wonder; how many of these people who I’m following are following me? Enter WhoFollow.
WhoFollow allows you to see any of those one-sided relationships you may have with people on Twitter. If you are following someone and they are not following you back, WhoFollow is going to let you know about it.
Find the Qwitters!
In the same vein, Qwitter is a tool that monitors your account and notifies you when a user ceases to follow you. Additionally, Qwitter will also display your last tweet before a user unfollowed you. This can be useful if you may have inadvertently offended someone, resulting in them unsubscribing from your future tweets.
Now that you are following the right people (and you’ve made sure they’re following you back!), you are going to need a way to track them and all of the conversations that they may be having about subjects that interest you. TweetGrid is the perfect tool to accomplish this.
Tweetgrid is a search dashboard that allows you to search and track up to nine different people, topics, groups, events, hashtags, and anything else you can think of in real time! The grid is easy to navigate and customizable so you can organize the layout to make your tracking experience as user-friendly as possible. Just enter the twitter handle, hashtag, or whatever else it is you are monitoring into the search box at the top of the screen and all related activity will be available immediately. An added bonus of Tweetgrid is the ability to be active in your tracking. You can tweet, mention, reply, and DM directly from the home dashboard so you do not have to miss anything important!
You may be wondering – What are some practical uses for Tweetgrid? We’re glad you asked! Tweetgrid can be used for a number of things including something near and dear to our hearts here at Smiley360 – the Twitter party!
Party Time!
A Twitter party is a virtual party that takes place on Twitter. They usually take place in the evening and can last anywhere from half an hour to two hours. A panel or host will facilitate most parties – in Smiley360’s case it is our community managers. The party is identified by a particular hashtag that is predetermined by the party’s host. Tweetgrid is particularly useful for these parties as you are able to monitor and track the party’s designated hashtag, follow conversations surrounding the hashtag, and of course, get involved and tweet! Stay tuned for news regarding Smiley360’s next Twitter party…
These are just a few of the countless Twitter add-ons and tools that exist and we encourage you to explore as many as possible. We have no doubt that you may have already discovered some applications that suit your Twitter needs and we want to hear about them! Feel free to share which Twitter add-ons you’re using and how helpful they have been. Twitter is always evolving and you can help your fellow Smiley360 members stay on the cutting edge by posting about your experiences. And of course, remember to follow us @mysmiley360 for all the latest news regarding great offers and deals through Smiley360.com!
