TweetDeck versus HootSuite. Which is better? You decide.

Allow me to introduce myself, so you can get to know me a little bit better. My name is Kate Gamble and I am a new (and very excited) Account Executive at Alstin Communications. I graduated with degrees in Public Relations and English, as well as minored in Journalism. My background includes Human Resources, Public Relations, Corporate Communications and magazine article copy writing/copy editing. My Twitter account is KateAtAlstin (don’t be a stranger, feel free to follow me). Twitter is not only an invaluable way to keep your brand, company or organization consistently in the public eye, but also an effective channel to communicate news, events, ads, blogs and anything else you can think of to your audience through a short and sweet tweet. I am using my new Twitter account at work to test out both TweetDeck and HootSuite. Now that’s squared away, I’d like to offer you a brief introduction to using TweetDeck and HootSuite, two leading applications that can get your online life organized.

What is TweetDeck, you ask? From their definition, “TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and more.” In other words, TweetDeck is a downloadable, easy to navigate Adobe dashboard that gives Twitter users a way to simultaneously view all retweets, direct messages, follower’s tweets, mentions, comments and more for instant Twitter gratification. You can also tweet through the dashboard using text, uploading photos and video straight from the computer and adding a location just as you would if you were logged onto your Twitter account normally. You can even schedule an update that will automatically post at a designated time. TweetDeck organizes all of these updates into categorized columns that you can mark as read, filter and trash, along with other options to help manage updates. You have the power to create and delete columns as you choose, as opposed to viewing one straight feed. TweetDesk also displays pop-up alerts when accounts that you follow tweet. As described, TweetDeck even allows you to link to Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social networks to view those updates as well, for both personal and professional use.

To download TweetDeck, simply visit www.tweetdeck.com. Once loaded, TweetDeck will show a “Welcome screen” every time you open the program. This screen is very helpful to new users trying to get the gist of all of the “core TweetDeck features,” but can easy be turned off by unclicking the, “Show welcome screen at startup” box on the bottom left corner of the pop-up. For additional information, TweetDeck’s website also offers a “Features” section that lists all of the programs capabilities with screenshots displaying each feature.

Another option in the realm of social network organization is HootSuite. HootSuite is a Twitter client and is very similar to TweetDeck in that it also serves as an organized dashboard for social networks that is separated into columns; however, unlike TweetDeck, HootSuite is typically used as a web-based service that is accessed online. While there is a downloadable option, it appears that the web service is much more prominent. HootSuite also gives the option of adding tabs to view not just your social network updates, but a stream of other updates by people you follow, keywords that are tweeted or lists. Free HootSuite online has less customizable options than TweetDeck, but users do have the option of paying a fee to upgrade to an account that supports more social media networks and gives additional options. To use HootSuite, visit www.hootsuite.com and log in using your Twitter username and password, just as you would using any other third party Twitter application like TwitPic.

So, which is better overall? As there are pros and cons to both, personal preference will have to be the ref on this one. Some users might feel uncomfortable downloading programs to their computers, the fact that TweetDeck seems to occasionally freeze up and stop loading; in which case, the free online HootSuite would be the choice option. Then again, other users might appreciate the fact that you can customize a program on your computer, can have the alerts set up without being logged in to an internet-based dashboard and prefer TweetDeck’s method of auto-loading updates over HootSuite’s and Twitter’s need to occasionally be manually refreshed. Personally, I prefer TweetDeck to HootSuite, as the Adobe desktop is sleek and compatible with several operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux). I don’t mind downloading the program, and I like the way the dashboard functions and is so customizable. I’m also partial to the idea that I can use TweetDeck without having to pay to “upgrade” to a more robust dashboard. But, whichever you choose, either one will establish a more organized system in your twitter and social media chaos.