Has HootSuite toppled TweetDeck?
ByHootSuite released just yesterday (July 31) a substantially updated version of their Twitter client. I now think it’s superior to TweetDeck because with Hootsuite you can:
1. Manage multiple profiles (also true in TweetDeck)
2. Schedule tweets (big shortcoming of TweetDeck that you can’t do this)
3. Shorten links & track statistics (TweetDeck offers bit.ly but I prefer the ow.ly shortener)
4. Create groups (TweetDeck does this, but not well – HootSuite is superb!)
5. Integrates with Ping.fm (can’t do that in TweetDeck)
6. Tabbed view to manage profiles, groups & search columns (big advantage over TweetDeck’s “flat” layout)
7. And, the knock-out punch – HootSuite is web-based, whereas TweetDeck is a massive resources hog on your desktop
Check out this video for a run-through of all these cool features and more.
PLUS, I include a super-informative tutorial on why you want to schedule tweets in the first place, and how to best leverage this strategy to maximize your efficiency on Twitter.
If you like this video, please send me a tweet or comment on my Facebook wall!
7 Comments
October 13th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I’d love to watch this video, but it just doesn’t play for me. Is it available from any other sites, video sharing sites like YouTube or Viddler maybe?
October 13th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Hootsuite has some definite advantages compared to TweetDeck (and I DO use both). I prefer TweetDeck for monitoring what’s going on with the people I follow (you can’t see quite as much on screen with HootSuite).
But for scheduling future tweets and managing multiple accounts, HootSuite kicks ass! One of the tips I picked up from Guy Kawasaki is to repeat important tweets several times, at different times of day. You do that because different followers are viewing their tweetstreams at different times of day. This increases the odds that your most important tweets will be seen (and hopefully retweeted!). Fortunately, it’s very easy to set this up in HootSuite.
In addition to tweeting about innovation, mind mapping software and social media on my main Twitter account, I also recently launched a blog about synthpop music, and I have a separate account for that (@modernsynthpop). I’ve found that TweetDeck is sometimes confusing when it comes to making sure you have the right account(s) selected. On several occasions, I’ve sent a tweet to the wrong account. HootSuite’s interface is much more intuitive and it forces you to select the account(s) to which you want to send a tweet. It then places a big green checkmark over them – so there’s no question which account a tweet is going to.
It’s also very easy to set up groups in HootSuite – once you’ve created a group, you can drag and drop people to it at any time. Much simpler than TweetDeck, where you have to view an interminably L…O….N….G list of people, and add checkmarks beside those folks you want to add to your group. Inevitably, you’re gonna forget some important people.
In short, HootSuite 2.0 is a MAJOR upgrade. If it’s been a while since you looked at this web-based Twitter client, you really need to check it out!
November 7th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Thank you so much for taking the time to teach such valuable information that most others would not do.
Thanks again,
Bruc
December 4th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Hi Julia, this is a great and very helpful vid. I actually watched it last week and bookmarked it to re-wathc today in order to set up hootsuite as I have been using Tweetdeck.
Looks like since you posted this vid though, some things have changed. The is no ping.fm integration on hootsuite anymore PLUS they are phasing out the groups and using lists.
It would be super duper cool if you could do an updated vid some time in the near future.
thanks bunches
December 4th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Hi Anna,
Glad you liked the video! And yes, I’ve done an updated video. If you go to GreenIslandMarketing.com, it’s the one that comes up on the home page, since it was the most recently posted video. otherwise you can do a search for “Hootsuite”. I think it’s called HootSuite Goes Facebook?
Julia
December 21st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Hi Julia,
Great video, and I have been using Tweetdeck for some time but after playing with Hootsuite there is no doubt I am there! Thanks for all the great videos.
Tim
January 14th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
[...] GREENiSLAND Marketing also prefers HootSuite [...]