How To Keep Track Of The People You Follow On Twitter Using Seesmic Desktop
Ranked #6,875 in Tech & Geek, #157,825 overall
Following Too Many People On Twitter?
It is easy to go overboard when following people on Twitter. Each message is limited to 140 characters, but after following a few hundred people, you may notice that it gets harder to keep track of what everyone else is sharing.
I know some people believe that it is pretty much impossible to actually follow what a large number of people are doing on Twitter, but you can. By using a tool such as Seesmic Desktop, you really can get a lot more out of Twitter and miss less than you would without it.
I was beginning to feel overwhelmed before I even reached the one thousandth person I followed. There were a lot of Twitter posts that came my way that I didn't care about, but there were many others that I wanted to see that were getting pushed out of sight.
With Seesmic Desktop, I can organize the tweet streams of the people I'm following, breaking up the main crowd into smaller, easier to manage groups.
Seesmic Desktop: The Basics
Like Seesmic's other Twitter client, Twhirl, Seesmic Desktop takes Twitter out of the web browser, and runs it right on your desktop using Adobe's AIR runtime environment.
The big difference is the ability to have multiple columns. These columns can be organized as userlists or search results.
The program is no longer marked as "Preview" but it does appear to still be in development. Changes keep coming, and Seesmic support, @AskSeesmic, appears to be very quick to answer user questions live on Twitter.
Seesmic was originally a video blogging site, but in 2008 the company became more involved in microblogging when it acquired Twhirl. In many respects, Twhirl is still a better client, but Seesmic Desktop Preview gets closer with every update. It'll eventually replace Twhirl, but for now both are available - and FREE!
Starting A New Userlist
With Seesmic Desktop "Preview" version 0.2.1, click on the plus symbol next to "USERLISTS" which will bring up the "Rename userlist" dialog box.
I'm naming my first one, "Estsy/Squidoo/Tagfoot" because when I joined Twitter, most of the people I followed first were from Squidoo.
Many of them were also involved with Etsy, Zazzle or TagFoot, so this catagory pretty much has room for everyone I follow who belong to these comunities.
After naming the userlist, it appears below "USERLISTS" in the first column.
Finding People For Your Userlists
When you make a userlist, it will automatically cover the home column. What I did in this case, was to make three searches each one for people using the words "Tagfoot," Squidoo," or "Etsy."
I don't know everyone who appears in these searches, and not everyone I follow will use those words in their posts, but it is a quick way for me to find people I want to put on my userlist.
I could just wait and add people as they appear in my home column, but this helps me get the lists started. This will also be less people for me to add that way later.
It is also a good way for me to find new people to follow, and become friends with!
Populating Your Userlists
Adding people to a userlist from any column is done by placing your mouse over a person's avatar picture which will cause four buttons to become visible.
The buttons are "reply," "direct message," "retweet," and a menu button. Click on the menu button, click "Add to userlist" and then a "Select a userlist" window opens which will then ask you which userlist to add to.
By clicking "Edit list settings" button at the top of the userlist, you can see everyone in the userlist. There's also a minus symbol to the right of every entry, which is how you remove people from uerlists.
Detaching The Userlist
Until you click the "Detach column" button, your userlist covers the home column. Detaching the column places it to the right, where the search columns were.
I haven't figured out how many columns I can have before it's starts to affect my computer, but on my laptop running Windows Vista, I'm able to have eight columns open at once.
No problems, so far.
Seesmic Desktop: Final View
It takes a little bit of work to organize this, especially if you start after already following over twelve hundred people, like me. I think it's worth it, after a while it shouldn't be much work, just add new people to userlists as you follow them.
I usually have seven or eight columns open, but leave the window sized big enough to view just three at a time. The home column is always the first, then my userlists and often a search column. I can use the horizontal scroll bar to switch between userlists and search columns.
I don't even need to have them all open at once, but I usually do.
Best Of Seesmic Tweets
A Sample From June 5th 2009
Best of:
-
- retweet | reply BillySyn
- @CleverMonkeys get seesmic desktop it kills
-
- retweet | reply YaminaLalouch
- Seesmic ist ein Desktop Preview, dass Twitter, Facebook unterstützt. Hier kann... Read More: http://is.gd/PxZ5
-
- retweet | reply aloha_aina
- Good to know. Tweeted issue I had w/ Seesmic function, @askseesmic contacted me right away & has helped me. Mahalo for good customer ser
-
-
- retweet | reply PROPhotogs
- Uninstall TweetDeck - crashes all the time. Installed Seesmic! Sweet, been up for hours and NO problems! http://desktop.seesmic.com/
-
- retweet | reply federicacau
- seesmic #twitter and #facebook evolved : http://ow.ly/aBWj @thelancelife
-
- retweet | reply brad_parler
- @BobCallahan I switched to Seesmic Desktop (will handle multiple accounts - now that I'm running 4 accounts it's a necessity)
-
- retweet | reply HireHeather
- Playing with seesmic desktop. My Nambu just can't handle the 600+ people I follow.
-
- retweet | reply shaunjamison
- @CarolMikel Looks like a dead heat now, but power users seem to favor Seesmic
-
- retweet | reply tristanwalker
- just finished meeting up with @loic and the seesmic team. They have some great ideas and products in the pipeline. Pay close attention..
-
-
- retweet | reply kamikazekitty
- OK, Seesmic is my new official drug! LOL Now all they need is a Mobile App and world domination will be complete! ;-) @Seesmic @AskSeesmic
-
- retweet | reply MiaDurante
- Oooh! @Seesmic lets you comment FB friends now! YAY!! So much nicer than TweetDeck! :-) http://desktop.seesmic.com
-
- retweet | reply astevens
- @sglassmeyer Seesmic desktop also hyperlinks the hashtags -- couldn't live without it.
-
-
- retweet | reply KyleEslick
- Wow, just realized I am managing 15 different Twitter accounts. Seesmic is incredible for managing them. Thanks to @miketempleton!
-
- retweet | reply ijcopon925
- Seesmic Desktop's Facebook support is really getting better and better, and I love it!
-
- retweet | reply RockComplacency
- @Dicoyta just got seesmic desktop about an hour ago and I'm already addicted. :)
-
- retweet | reply HighTechDad
- Well, after hearing & talking to @loic last night, I'm really giving @seesmic desktop a good long test. Hard to "switch platforms&q
Community write-ins:
Write a new tweet for this list! If CleanerLife likes it, it could get picked for the best-of list above.
Your message will be automatically sent via Twitter.
Ready For Seesmic Desktop
Seesmic Desktop Links
- Seesmic DESKTOP
- Seesmic Desktop is a cross-platform desktop Twitter client developed in Adobe AIR.
- Seesmic Blog
- Welcome to the Seesmic Blog!
Links
Join Seesmic
Loic's blog
Johann's blog About People
Company Archives June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 More... - Seesmic Announce (seesmic) on Twitter
- I make updates and announcements for Seesmic.com Send feedback/questions to @askseesmic
- Seesmic Support (askseesmic) on Twitter
- Hi there! This is usually @loic and @jyamasaki here to help you with your questions about @seesmic and @twhirl
- Seesmic | Facebook
- Seesmic | Facebook
Seesmic is on FacebookSign up for Facebook to connect with Seesmic. ... Seesmic Desktop: Get Facebook + Twitter on your Desktop, now including comments and ... - Loic Le Meur (loiclemeur) on Twitter
- Entrepreneur, Seesmic founder, LeWeb Paris conference founder, Kite Surfer
- Yama (jyamasaki) on Twitter
- Community Evangelist, Seesmic; @askseesmic; @TechKaraokeSF; prodmgnt; GTD; jack of all trades, master of fun; Muay Thai; parappa, the mindmapper
Blog Posts About Seesmic Desktop
- Seesmic Desktop Now Available as a Native Windows Client - Social ...
- Windows: If you've wanted a desktop-based Twitter client but were shying away because most were built with Adobe Air and you're not a fan, Seesmic Desktop is now available as a native Windows client.
- Seesmic Desktop Now Available As A Native Windows Client ...
- Windows: If you've wanted a desktop-based Twitter client but were shying away because most were built with Adobe Air and you're not a fan, Seesmic Des...
- 64bit and x64 - Install Seesmic Desktop on Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit
- szombat, 21 november 2009. Start64! It seems like most of the news related to Twitter clients and social networking applications ends up coming down to TweetDeck and Seesmic. Although, I typically use Digsby when logged into my Windows ...
- Seesmic Desktop Adds Twitter Lists, Hits 3 Million Downloads
- Now that Twitter has officially unveiled its Lists feature to all users, the frenzy has started. But while Lists are available via Twitter's ...
Learn More About Seesmic Desktop
-
How To Backup, Export & Import Seesmic Desktop Userlists
-
It is a lot of work setting up large userlists for Seesmic Desktop. If something goes wrong with your computer, do you have a way to restore those lists? Do you trust your backup software? What about a second, or third computer? Want to transfer y...
Learn More About Twhirl
-
Access your Twitter account using Twhirl
-
Using Twhirl with Twitter is an excellent way to keep up to date with your account on Twitter. Twhirl allows you to access all aspects of your account on Twitter in one place. It makes communicating with your followers that much simpler and quicker...
Enjoy This Lens On Keeping Track Of The People You Follow On Twitter Using Seesmic Desktop?
- Rate this lens:
- Email it
- Favorite it
- Lensroll it
Have comments? What Do You Think About Using Seesmic Desktop?
-
Reply
- pkmcr pkmcr Oct 23, 2009 @ 12:39 am
- Twitter can get so confusing at times when you are following loads of people! This looks like a good resource and an excellent lens showing how to use it
-
Reply
- Ramkitten Ramkitten Jul 17, 2009 @ 10:00 am
- I'm to the point where I could really use this. I'm considering it. Your tutorial here is great!
-
Reply
- Trekkiemelissa Trekkiemelissa Jun 10, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
- I've been using this one for quite a while and love it.
-
Reply
- WindyWinters WindyWinters Jun 9, 2009 @ 10:08 pm
- Great Lens! 5* Thanks for explaining Seesmic! I currently use Tweetdeck but find myself using plain old Twitter more often. I'll have to try Seesmic; it looks a bit better than Tweetdeck. Let u know! Thanks! :)
-
Reply
- badmsm badmsm Jun 7, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
- Left you some lens love, 5 stars & a Squid Angel Blessing!
-
Reply
- Laniann Laniann Jun 7, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
- You did a good job of explaining the system. Sounds and looks like it would be helpful. 5*s
-
Reply
- a_willow a_willow Jun 7, 2009 @ 4:25 am
- I'm currently using TweetDeck but this looks pretty good! Have to give it a try! :)
-
Reply
- 0ctavias0fferings 0ctavias0fferings Jun 6, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
- This sounds really useful and easy to use 5* for making it sound simple enough for me LOL
CleanerLife On Twitter
- CleanerLife
- aka CleanerLife
- 1,305 followers
- 1,459 following
-
- Hectic Site Launch! http://is.gd/54q2z
-
- @Squimpleton Sweet! :)
-
- @taraburner We sure should! :)
-
- 7 Ways to Secure a Job in a Recessionary Marketplace: http://careers-resources.com/content/7-ways-secure-job-recessionary-marketplace
-
- @naiza ::comfies::
CleanerLife's Top 10
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byby CleanerLife
I'm obsessed with eating healthy, fresh food rais... (more)
Explore related pages
How To Organize A Christmas Caroling Party- Organizing or hosting a Christmas caroling party is a fun and festive way to cel...
How To Disable PHP Register Globals -- Drupal Status Report- So I'm comparing Drupal and Joomla on my test site. I want to learn both Content...
Gimp Tutorial: Making Borders For Banners & Graphics- You can add borders to existing images using GIMP, but you can also make up bord...
GIMP Tips Tricks & Tutorials- For a free program, GIMP sure delivers on features, functions, and just all arou...
How To Backup, Export & Import Seesmic Desktop Userlists- It is a lot of work setting up large userlists for Seesmic Desktop. If something...
Access your Twitter account using Twhirl- Using Twhirl with Twitter is an excellent way to keep up to date with your accou...
