Staff Round-up: Twitter

With Twitter growing in popularity, it’s a great way to keep in touch, make new friends, and — for us here at Geek Life, anyway — promote your online shenanigans. Trust me, there are lots of shenanigans here at Geek Life, and many of us are tweeting about them. But, with so many different Twitter apps, which one is the best for you? This week, our staff chimes in on their favorite twitter apps.

Tiarra’s pick: Twitterific for iPad
Since the day I purchased my iPad, my time on this wonderful little gadget has increased exponentially. I’ve experimented with a few Twitter apps on the iPad, and by far my favorite is Twitterific. The interface is visually pleasing and easy to use. With the ability to see not only my tweets, mentions, messages and favorites, but also my lists and current trends – and the ability to quickly reply to others’ tweets, it’s a great way to keep in touch with my Twitter pals.  All it’s missing is a retweet function. Twitterific can be downloaded through the iTunes App store.

Rob’s pick: Echofon for iPhone
For me, there’s no contest when it comes to my choice of Twitter app – it has to be Echofon. It’s clean; it’s simple and has all the bells and whistles that you could ask for and then some – including a really nifty “Nearby Tweets” feature, which lets you visually see on an inbuilt Google map other tweeters in your area. Twitter is all about keeping up with the conversation, and I’ve often found that to be difficult on other apps thanks to poorly designed UI’s and overbearing colour schemes. This is where Echofon triumphs; it’s very easy on the eye, keeping to monotones, with the only colour injection coming from users’ avatars. The free-version comes with ad-support, but if you’re serious about tweeting, then I’d recommend upgrading to the ad-free Pro version; either by buying it separately, or upgrading via in-app purchase. Echofon can be downloaded through the iTunes App Store.

Dan’s pick: TweetDeck
My favorite way to monitor the world of social media is TweetDeck. It gives me running updates from both my Twitter and Facebook feeds, so I don’t have to check different windows. I’m told it’s also capable of hooking into MySpace, FourSquare, LinkedIn, and others. It is also easy to set up additional running searches on the same screen. I usually have at least one open to monitor any mentions of me, along with searches for topics I want to keep up with, such as @ageeklife. TweetDeck is also automatically set up to shorten URLs and access TwitPic. Basically, TweetDeck is like a full service control panel for my online social life.

Jamie’s pick: Echofon Pro for iPhone
I have an iPhone and have gone through a number of apps before I finally settled on Echofon Pro for Twitter. The current price for it is $4.99 which I found fair for an app I love. There is a free version, but it does have a number of ads on it and doesn’t support push notification the way the Pro edition does. It has excellent image and video (3GS only) compatibility, lets you update your location, manage your friends list, and has an easy to navigate system. Sometimes I use Echofon Pro on my iPhone instead of Tweetdeck on my PC because of the easier interface. If you don’t want to shell out the money for the Pro version, the free one will give you a very good idea of just how functional it is.

Carlton’s pick: Chromed Bird for Google Chrome
Chromed Bird has most of the standard features of a Twitter client that you’d expect: @-replies, Direct Messages and the ability to Retweet. It even has a few customization options that can help it to feel like your own. I’m fond of the columns and search box within the application itself, though I do have one small complaint with it: you cannot initially DM someone directly from the application. If you’ve already DM’d them before, or they you, then you can certainly respond. But if you wish to begin a correspondence, you’ll need to look elsewhere (as in that person’s Twitter page), since Chromed Bird has no ability to do this just now. All in all, I’d say Chromed Bird is a great beginning for Twitter in Google’s Chrome browser, and I hope to see it improve!

James’ pick: Echofon for Firefox
I’ll be the first to admit, I am not exactly the most tech-savvy person around. It takes me a bit of time to move forward with new tech, gadgets or social networking tools. As such, I was a bit late to the Twitter scene. At first, I was very much against it, as I thought it was a very silly attention grabbing device, but after some convincing from @marronmarvel, I realized that it can be a great method of keeping in touch with its short speedy updates. To that end, I installed the echofon add-on for Firefox. It’s a fantastic tool which allows me to keep up to date with those I’m following, as well as allowing me to post quick updates, without the necessity of always going to the actual website. Echofon allows you to check for updates, check to see if anyone has mentioned you, as well as check and reply to direct messages. The only really lacking portion of the app is that you cannot retweet directly from it. This is really only a small nuisance though, unless you are a retweeting maniac. Overall, it’s a good program, and it makes life simpler twitter-wise as you are surfing the net, and catching up on your comics, blogs or silly videos. Ha! That bulldog’s on a skateboard!

Terry’s pick: Echofon for Firefox and Peep for Android
When it comes to getting my Twitter fix, there are several factors I stake into account: 1. I get the updates as soon as they come. 2. I can reply or retweet instantly. So when in front of my computer I use the Echofon extension for Firefox. Extensions, in my opinion, are what really set Firefox apart from other browsers and Echofon is a perfect example; I can do it all from the convinience of a collapsable screen on the bottom corner of my browser, but when on the run I use the Peep app for my HTC hero, which can be downloaded from the Droid marketplace; it’s clean and easy to use — perfect for keeping my interweb fix when not in front of a computer.

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There you have it! It would appear that the vast majority of the Geek Life staff is madly in love with Echofon; that most certainly means that it — and the other Twitter apps mentioned here — is worth checking out. While you’re at it, don’t forget to follow the @aGeekLife Staff on Twitter!

Have a suggestion for our next staff round-up? E-mail editor@geek-life.com!

About Geek Life Editor

Raised in the Shire and bitten by a radioactive Time Lord, the Geek Life Editor has assembled a team of groovy people from all around the world to discuss and share their geek culture experiences. What sort of adventures will this friendly neighborhood geek and her amazing friends share? Only time will tell!

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