Many companies now see twitter as an integral part of their social media strategy. They log on, start a feed and immediately start posting into an echo chamber. No relationships, no responses, just waiting for their customers to find them while they tweet away about what they think sounds good.

Like all brands of social media, twitter needs to have a personal aspect. There should be conversation, interaction and relationships forming on a regular basis. Unfortunately, Twitter does not really lend itself to the high-level of personal interaction that Facebook does. You have to remember to regularly log-in and check your replies, it often takes time for people to respond and its even harder (despite "lists") to read comments from the people you want to regularly check in with.

Twitter is Nothing without Apps

If you've tried Twitter and found it frustrating, welcome to the game. If you're considering giving up on Twitter, but haven't downloaded an app, hold your horses. The difference between Twitter and other social media sites is that Twitter doesn't allow you as many options. This keeps Twitter simple, but not always effective.

That's when Apps step in. You can download them to your phone or to your desktop. They can run live in the background or send messages to your phone. The take your entire Twitter experience to a truly interactive place.

My favorite, by far, is Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck is a downloadable desktop app. It allows me to follow multiple twitter accounts, direct messages, hashtags and lists. I can know when the people I want to respond to are talking and when someone's talking to me. And the communities I participate in, I get those updates in real time. Other examples are twitter apps for your phone, Hootsuite, and Seismic.

So if you're not sure about twitter, make sure you try an app. Simplify your user experience and make sure you stay in touch with all the right people at the right times.

Have you tried an app? Which one do you like?

Tags: Apps, Relationships, Social Media, TweetDeck, Twitter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 9:45 am and is filed under Social Media, Veribatim. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.