The Death of Tweetdeck, Part 3

Remember how months and months ago I was looking for a replacement for Tweetdeck because they discontinued a desktop app? And I found a new one, but it kept crashing my touchpad driver so I stopped using it? And I really didn’t like the one I got to replace it because it only showed you a fixed number of tweets and just kind of sucked in general? Any of this ringing a bell?

Anyway, I got really sick of the replacement and started looking for yet another replacement. And I found one! And it’s actually really good!

It’s called Tweeten and let me break it down for you…

Pros

---Infinite scrolling for your tweets. I can’t believe there’s apps where you can’t!

---You can actually see pictures in tweets, which you couldn’t in Yoono.

---Fairly easy to figure out, especially if you remember how Tweetdeck worked.

Cons

---Can only update to Twitter, not any other platforms (if that’s really what you want).

---Not always intuitive. I don’t want to admit how long it took me to realize that you can just hit N to bring up a window to type your tweet, just like in Tweetdeck.

---Can’t hit enter to tweet. Have to it Ctrl + Enter. Like some kind of savage.

TL;DR: It’s basically a clone of Tweetdeck, and that’s why you should use it if you want it for your desktop. So yeah. Go with this. The only other con I have is that it took me so long to find it.

The Death of Tweetdeck, Part 2

I didn’t expect this to be a continuing series, but frankly, I’ve been kind of annoyed with Janetter’s, which I think was causing problems with my computer. So I went looking for another, and found Yoono.

It’s…okay, I guess. Not great. Servicable, I think is the best word for it.

Pros

---Still calls Favorites Favorites! Woo!

---Fairly intuitive.

---Lets you link a bunch of different social media sites, so you can not only look at updates from Facebook and LinkedIn and whatever, you can also update them all at the same time.

Cons

---There’s very little customization of the appearance, and I’m not a fan of the plain white background.

---Navigation is a bit awkward, although you should be able to figure it out (there’s a little icon in the bottom corner that lets you scroll).

---The updates only come in about every minute or so it’s not exactly instant.

---It only lets you go look at a fixed number of posts, so you can only go back so far. Seriously?!

Honestly, I’d stick with Janetter over this one…except, like I said, I think Janetter is causing some glitches in my computer, namely that it’s causing touchpad driver to periodically crash, which means I can’t scroll with it and that’s just so annoying. I don’t know if this problem would happen to other people—my computer is at the crappy end of the technology scale—but the fact that it’s happening at all makes me reconsider their worth. And since I’ve uninstalled it, I haven’t had any problems with my touchpad.

Sigh. We really can’t get something as good as Tweetdeck, can we?

The Death Of Tweetdeck

Well, I guess it’s not technically dead. They were all “Oh it’s still online so it’s not like it’s really gone! Ha ha—wait, why are you all leaving?” Like we don’t know that they canceled the desktop version of Tweetdeck because they don’t get any ad revenue from it.

Twitter has made some really annoying changes over the years. The worst part is they aren’t awful. Yes, that makes sense, shut up. The changes they’ve made aren’t anything that would make someone quit. But they do make it a lot suckier to use. Case in point: stop calling Favorites Likes damn it this isn’t Facebook. And like dropping the desktop version of Tweetdeck. Yeah, it’s lame as hell, but you’re not going to quit and trash all of your followers for it.

But I really liked being able to access Twitter without having to go through my browser. I especially liked the fact that it presented your lists in easy to read columns where you could keep your important/interesting follows separate from the ones that are basically spambots. Overall, I liked the convenience and presentation of Tweetdeck more than Twitter itself. So obviously I’m going to find something to replace it rather than use the damn browser version. Seriously, Twitter must think I’m stupid.

And that’s how I found Janetter. It’s basically another Tweetdeck, but…well, it’s not a perfect one. Here, let me break it down for you:

Pros

---Can hit enter to tweet again. The fact that you couldn’t do that on Tweetdeck really bugged me.

---Has little wavy lines to show when you’ve caught up to tweets that you’ve already read.

---Still calls Favorites Favorites. Honestly, this may be the clincher.

Cons

---The settings aren’t very intuitive, so they can be hard to figure out.

---Does not show favorites or RTs : (. Unless there’s some way to do it through the settings that I can’t figure out (see above).

---Can’t click on a tweet and see all the responses to it. Kind of annoying that you see a response and can’t figure out what it’s for without going to Twitter.

---Interface is a bit jerky, and it can be slow at displaying new Tweets.

So that’s it. In all, it’s an acceptable substitute. Plus we have Favorites. I really, really like that.

Sociable

All right, I’m going to give you the rundown on some different social media sites that you’ve probably heard of but maybe not because I’m out of post ideas I’m always here to help.

Facebook

What it is: General social media hub where you can post pictures, messages, and easily communicate with others.

Pros: Everyone’s on it.

Cons: Everyone’s on it.

Why I’m (not) on it: All of my relatives have Facebook accounts. See my Thanksgrieving posts as for why that’s an issue.

Why it’s going to stick around: Again, everyone’s on it. It’s one of the easiest ways to message others. Remember when AIM used to be a thing? It’s like that, but better.

Twitter

What it is: Post whatever you’re thinking in 140 characters or less.

Pros: If someone checks their Twitter often, it’s very easy to communicate with them. Plus it’s made for prattling on about useless nonsense.

Cons: Half the people on it are spambots.

Why I’m on it: Besides the fact that I’m made of useless nonsense, I’m still in my twenties, so by law, I have to be on it.

Why it’s going to stick around: In an age where people stop reading after one paragraph, Twitter is king.

Reddit

What it is: If Facebook and Wikipedia had a baby, this would be it (basically, user generated stories are voted up and down by other users).

Pros: It’s a surprisingly powerful force to be reckoned with.

Cons: Like Wikipedia, the content is only as accurate as the uploader makes it, although it can be corrected by subsequent comments.

Why I’m (not) on it: While it’s mostly good, I’ve seen some rather offensive things on it.

Why it’s going to stick around: Like I said, it’s a powerful force, and people like being part of that.

Tumblr

What it is: A blogging platform teenagers still use because their parents aren’t on it.

Pros: You can post pictures, articles, videos, pretty much anything. It also prides itself on being a place for anyone “different”.

Cons: Say something bad about a fandom and the entire populace will turn on you.

Why I’m on it: It’s great for single serving blogs dedicated to a particular subject.

Why it’s going to stick around: Because there will always need to be an alternative to Facebook. Preferably one without our parents.

Goodreads

What it is: Facebook for books.

Pros: A lot of authors will hold giveaways exclusive to Goodreads.

Cons: People will one star your favorite book and refuse to explain why.

Why I’m (not) on it: I’m someone who will reread twenty books I’ve read before in between every new book. I wouldn’t post much.

Why it’s going to stick around: It’s the closest thing to having a book club some people will have.

Twitter Spam

You all know I’m a connoisseur of spam (and a little off topic, why is connoisseur so freaking hard to spell??). It’s insane, badly translated, nonsensical garbage and I can’t resist it. But did you know that Twitter has its own special brand of spam-sanity that’s as rich and tasty as what you delete from your blog comments on a weekly basis? Just look at some of the gems that have followed me:

Bio: “Successful Internet Marketer.”

Reality: Has fewer followers than me. Hasn’t tweeted in a month.

Bio: “Hello I am a network marketing coach who trains others on how to build there own blogging site and market themselves as an expert in there niche.”

Reality: Their. The word is their.

Bio: “Health education,weight loss,detox,detoxing,colonhealth,acai berry colon cleanse,detoxcolon,detox weight loss,detoxify colon”.

Reality: Stay away from my colon.

Bio: “I only one week join with twitter, but we have thousands twitter followers now , need know my secret?, visit :”

Reality: At best, you’re paying thirty bucks for hundreds of spambots. At worst, you’ll end up evicted from your house and unable to get a credit card because your identity has been stolen.

Bio: “Hot tramp you love so”.

Reality: Wrong on so many levels.

Bio: “You dreamed I was a very clean tramp.”

Reality: Eep.

Bio: “Today i join to twitter, but we have thousands twitter followers now , need know my secret?,”

Reality: Clearly it isn’t proper grammar.

As with all spam, it makes me wonder how people can actually fall for it. Which they do, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much of it.

Things Not to Have in your Twitter Profile

Another Twitter post because honestly, I just keep stumbling across some bizarre things. I don’t know how people do it on The Face Book, but on Twitter, the skill is being able to describe something in 140 characters, or 160 for your profiles. It can be a challenge, yes, but don’t trip into the following Profile Pitfalls:

1. Don’t have nothing but hashtags.

#writer #person #something else #a bunch of other things #all in one word #so what I’m doing here is a little misleading #but you get it

Somehow I have doubts about your writing ability if your profile only has one word hashtags. PS: same goes when you have nothing but nouns punctuated by commas.

2. Nothing but links to your book.

www.buybookone.com, www.buybooktwo.com, www.buybookthree.com, www.doitnow.com, www.seriouslyiknowwhereyoulive.com

It’s one thing to promote your books. It’s quite another when there is literally nothing about you. To me, this seems like a red flag that this person is going to do nothing but spam tweets with these same links in them, and sometimes I like to actually connect with people on Twitter.

3. Nothing but shortened links.

www.acoupleofletters.com (really www.younowhaveavirus.com)

I don’t like shortened links. You don’t know where they lead to and it’s like picking up some strange in a bar: it could be all right, but it could also infect you up the wazoo. I generally do not follow back people with shortened links. It’s another red flag that you’ll be spammed, and it’s probably not going to be something as innocuous as book promotions.

4. A quote from somebody else.

“Something really deep.” Misattributed author.

Generally, these tweeters also have nothing but quotes as their tweets, too. Back when I first started on Twitter and didn’t really get was going on, I followed a few of these people. I got nothing but spam DMs. Lesson learned.

5. Really creepy descriptions.

I like fairies, and unicorns, and skinning people alive, and wishing wells.

Okay, that’s exaggerating, but you get the idea. Someone once followed me with the description of both “14 year old” and “amateur psychoanalyst.” There’s just something off about that. How about this one: “I WILL ELIMINATE YOUR NEGATIVE ENERGIES!” It’s almost a threat.

Okay, so that’s all for today. Remember, if you’re on Twitter or might be someday, don’t be a spammer. Or a creep. Really, really don’t be a creep.

Block and Report for Spam

Actual bios from some people who followed me on Twitter. Shortly before I hit that “Block” button. Are they real people? You be the judge.

The answer, by the way, is no.

Follow me and I will follow you back.

 #teamfollowback #teamretweet #teamunstoppable

For a while, every other follower I had was “team follow back”. Most of them do nothing but spam retweets until they get sent to Twitter jail to give the rest of us a break.

15 | Single |A Boxer | A model | A Nerdy chicky ;) | Snapchat me!!

This has got to be illegal.

Is your name summer? Cause baby, you're HOT! ?????????

Not even trying to make sense.

- GLOBAL SUPERSTAR – WILL U #BELIEVE ? & DON’T BLAME IT ON THE SUNSHINE BOOKS

You know what? No. I don’t think I’ll believe.

#LawOfAttraction, #Money, #TheSecret, #NapoleonHill, #LawsOfSuccess, #ThinkAndGrowRich, #SelfMastery, #MastermindGroup, #Masterminding, #MLM, #Affiliate, #LOA

Nothing but tags. It’s either a cult or a pyramid scheme.

I don’t like fake people and I will ignore you if I think that you are. I live in a city filled with liars. This girl’s careful #TeamFollowBack #KeepIt100

Considering that Team Follow Back is nothing but following people no matter what, I don’t think she’s as careful as she claims.

Life is good but is about to get a whole lot better…..wait and see xx

Oh, this just can’t be good.

JUST FOLLOW ME :)

…No.

im just that amazing n i follow back

But screw grammar!

IM A RAPPER BEIN ME ..... BUT U WANA BE A RAPPER #TEAMFOLLOWBACK

Ugh. No. Just no.

We sing all the time for follow back . Join us and be part of this great follower hunt. So you will also gaining. #FollowBack #TFB #TeamFollowBack

Not only spammy, but a translator fail, too!

★iFollowBack★ Living life to the fullest, no regrets. Never let anyone tell you that you can't do something, prove them wrong.

I don’t know. “You can’t follow me, I blocked you” is pretty definite.

Kicking Us When We’re Down

It was announced in March, but in the hubbub over Reader (sob), I overlooked it (I certainly didn’t see a notice for it like others did). The horrible news is…TweetDeck is being canceled. Murdered, if you will. I assume because it’s something I like. Also because they can’t really make money on advertising when people go through the desktop app, but like I care about that.

In all fairness, it’s not being completely taken away—in exactly one week, I might add. It will still be available as a web service, much like all the aggregators I’ve been reviewing over the past month. But I used the desktop version, amusing since I also posted how I didn’t like desktop readers. I just think it’s different with Twitter. I like to check it, well, a lot, and I’m often online at the same time. For whatever reason, I prefer to keep my TweetDeck separate from my online stuff.

Right now I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I could go with the online version of TweetDeck, even if I really don’t want to. I could also switch to another desktop app, of which there are painfully few. There’s one called MetroTwit, which isn’t terrible, but it starts up very slowly for me. This might be my computer, which isn’t exactly high tech. Either way, I’m not sure I’d like to put up with this every time I open the dang thing. However, it’s also a pretty nice app. It shows my new mentions/messages when I open it, I was easily able to customize it similar to my TweetDeck set up in the few ways it wasn’t already a close copy, and most importantly, I’m able to send a tweet by hitting enter. Yes, that is very important to me.

So I’m caught between the online TweetDeck and MetroTwit. They’re pretty neck and neck right now. I’ll have to muse on this some more.

Hey. This is serious business.

The Top Four…

Things you shouldn’t do on Twitter (but which I totally do anyway). Because…I don’t know. I like lists, I guess.

1. Talk about inconsequential things like being bored, seeing something not all that strange but that you think is interesting, cats.

            Why it’s wrong: No one really cares about seeing a guy sleeping on the bus or hearing about how much you hated some woman at the store who should not have been in the damn express lane with something like fifty items, seriously, what the hell.

            Why I do it anyway: Because sometimes the spider outside my window freaks me out and I want to share. And face it. You all love hearing about what the cats are up to.

2. Tweet about how you’re going to sleep.

            Why it’s wrong: Again, no one really cares. It’s social media. You can leave without announcing yourself.

            Why I do it anyway: Sometimes I’m in the middle of conversations and I want to make sure people know why I’m not responding. It’s not that the subject is closed. I just can’t keep my eyes open anymore.

3. Complain about people/minor annoyances.

            Why it’s wrong: No one likes persistent negativity.

            Why I do it anyway: One part need for commiseration one part hope that maybe someone in Twitterland has a way around it. Even I have my limits, though. But sometimes the political calls, advertisements and commercials get to be too much and if I don’t say anything my brains will burst out of my skull.

4. Self-promote.

            Why it’s wrong: The “social” part of social media means people want to interact with you, not read an advertisement aboutyou.

            Why I do it anyway: I don’t usually, since I don’t often have anything to promote, but there are occasions. I try to keep it within an acceptable ratio: for every one promotion, there’s at least four non-related tweets. They have to be spaced out, too. Just as long as people know I’m a person, not a spambot.

There. Well, I at least think I’m more accurate about Twitter than I am on what makes a popular post. Have a fun weekend!

Twitter for Beginners, Dos

When I first joined Twitter, I was pretty lost. I figured out the hard way that whenever you mention an iPod, you will be spammed for the next twenty minutes with links to questionable music sites and “free” iPods. Those quotes are there for a reason, people.

I try to avoid spam triggers because of how relentless they can be. Plus it’s not fun to accidentally click on a link and then have your computer lock up while your antivirus software freaks out from an overload of malicious programs. Until Twitter makes it so you can prevent link spamming, you’ll have to do with being careful when using the following words:

1. iPod. As I mentioned, this, iTunes or iPad will bring on a lot of spam links.

2. Computer. Same as above. I tend to write this as comp uter. They’ll never crack that code.

3. Movie. More links, this time involving SHOW TIMES NEAR YOU!!!1!

4. Blog. You usually get offers to earn a living blogging from home. Now I’m not saying this can’t be done. I’m just saying it’s highly suspect when a company pretends to be a person to have a Twitter account and send a link whenever a word is mentioned.

Finally, there are bots that will tweet a quote at you if you mention a certain movie/TV show. Unlike the above, these bots aren’t really malicious. They don’t send out links or even follow anyone. They just quote from their subject, I guess so followers can go “Ah! I remember that episode!” It’s amusing if you like the show but kind of gets tedious after a while.

Overall, these are kind of the Seven Words You Can’t Say On Twitter. Except there isn’t seven. And unlike the list of words you can’t say on television, this list you technically can say (or tweet, rather). It just attracts a lot of offers begging you to AcT NOww or loose This great oportunity.

Have you ever been bothered by spammers? Any words you’ve noticed that attract spam?

Twitter for Beginners

Why? Because Twitter is a pretty important source for writer’s, that’s why. In fact, last February I did a whole post about the many valuable resources, most of whom are still on Twitter. Agents, editors, fellow writers…it’s great! But there are some tricks to navigating Twitter, something that’s valuable whether or not you’re a writer.

First of all, we’ll look at the six types of tweeters:

1. Regular people. These are most tweeters. You follow them if you share a common interest, like writing, or you know them from somewhere. If they’re none of the following types, they usually follow back.

2. The Celebrity. For the most part, these people/companies won’t follow you back. You only follow them if you’re actually interested in them, like if they are an agent or a movie actor.

3. The Self-Made Celebrity. These are people who have tens of thousands of Twitter followers. How? By following tens of thousands of others. However, all those followers mean that unless you know them outside of Twitter, you’ll rarely, if ever, talk to them. If you just want a higher follower count, go ahead and add them.

4. The Fake Celebrity. This is a variation on the above, but instead of keeping you as a follower, they’ll drop you as soon as you follow them back. You can tell them apart because they usually have a high following, but follow very few people themselves. Ignore them.

5. The Spammer. These people have one goal: to follow you so you will follow them back and they can Direct Message (a private message) you a link to a service or a less than reputable site. It’s hard to tell them apart from regular people, but they tend to have very few tweets, yet a very high number of followers/following. They might also tweet nothing but names or generic sentences. Don’t follow them.

6. The Viral Spammer. Even worse than the above because they will tweet something at you NON STOP. If you have the misfortune of coming across one, you will have to block them to stop them. Don’t forget to report them for spam.

Well, this post is getting long (hey, I appreciate brevity). I suppose I’ll make this a two parter and finish up next week. Cue the dramatic music!

Any other types of tweeters to beware? How do you decide who to follow?

How Much Is Too Much?

In terms of giving away personal information online, that’s a very good question. Here on social networking sites, sharing is pretty much a given. But every piece of info you give away can be used against you!

This has many implications. For example: you’re interviewing for a job. Before said interview, your prospective employer does a Google search on your name (or even your initials!). And finds a picture of you doing a keg stand at a frat party. “Well,” would-be boss says. “This guy/gal’s no good. How irresponsible.”

Whoops. Also, goodbye job. Keeping your online image clean is important, but anything you said can and will be used against you in the court of opinion. Say you have no keg-stand pictures, but post on Twitter. A lot. Like, to the point where you’re tweeting “Walkin’!” when you get up to cross the room. Someone might look at this and think you don’t get anything done because you’re online all the time.

It’s a tricky situation. What bothers one person may not bother another. In the above situation, fellow twitterer may go “Welcome aboard! What ideas do you have about bringing our company onto Twitter?”

I’m not saying you should stop—far from it! Just remember being online is like living in the same mid-sized town as any prospective employer. And there are two truths of towns like that: 1: Gossip is forever; 2: Not everyone knows everyone else, but they do know someone who knows you.

This is the world wide web we live in. Frustrating as it might be at times, I still love it.

Stay tuned for more talk about information online!

Tweet THIS!

Last night on Twitter, I was fed up with receiving tweet after tweet of followers from #teamfollowback. For those who don't know, #teamfollowback is a hashtag used by tweeters who almost exclusively tweet who is following them. Yes, the exposure is nice, but for someone who is interested in seeing what her twitter friend's are up to, it just clogs my feed. Honestly, it's one step above spam, and it isn't even a big step.

I already unfollowed one person because it was so constant. I really like following people on twitter. It's how I've come across several interesting blogs and made friends with other writers. I follow people that I think I can learn from or just want to support. And you know what? I hope that's why people follow me. If they just want another follower, fine. I don't suppose there's anything wrong with that. Provided you don't spam me with followers or deals on bad products.

Nor do I think it's wrong to do Follow Friday or Writer Wednesday. It's one of those any-friend-of-yours-is-a-friend-of-mine things, and it's a way to find more like minded individuals. And if you want to give a shout out to new followers, go ahead! It's a way to say thank you.

The problem comes like most problems: when people don't stop. This isn't tweeting, it's advertising others so they'll advertise you back and maybe net you more followers. But guess what? Having twenty thousand followers isn't a sign of popularity or celebrity. How many of those people actually know you, care about what you say? If you're a follower spammer, probably not many.

Twitter is a social network, social referring to interactions between people and network referring to connections. Follower spam is neither. At best, it is advertisement, and what do people do with incessant advertisements? They delete them, throw them away. If I want more followers, I'll look under my interests, thank you. If they don't follow back, it isn't the end of the world.

So tweeters, please join me at #teammayormaynotfollowback. Because I'd like to know what you think, not who you follow.