Nowadays,
we’re spread pretty thin on all the social network accounts that we
have: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, etc. so managing
them can either take a considerable amount of time, or they just don’t
get managed like some of them should. Instead, we resort to using one or
two social networks that we like and abandon the rest. This might be
due to the ease of use of one service over another, or it could simply
be a lack of interest in the service.
However, many of these social networks are much more enjoyable to use
with an all-in-one type interface. It’s not just about accessing all of
your social networks in one place though. Features like scheduling,
filtering and searching, just to name a few, make these excellent tools
to integrate into your daily routine.
Seesmic, for a long time, has been
one of the most popular all-in-one social media clients. However,
since September of 2012, it’s been owned by HootSuite. Recently, it seems as though Seesmic has abandoned
their Facebook page leaving their users confused and asking the repeated question as to why they can’t log in.
If you’ve been wondering the same thing, it’s because you
can’t log in. Besides
the mobile app, which Ryan covered, the desktop and web applications are no longer being supported. In addition, HootSuite also has
their own mobile app – so the choice is yours.
An alternative to this problem is using HootSuite’s social network app.
Currently there is no specific desktop application, but there is a
workaround that we have mentioned here on MakeUseOf. Justin talked about
it in his article
5 Ways To Blur The Line Between Web Apps & Desktop Apps:
Did you know, however, that you can add direct shortcuts
to such applications on your computer? Simply open a new tab, then
right-click the application’s icon. You’ll see an “add shortcut” option.
Click that and you’ll be able to add an icon, either to your system’s
menu or your desktop. This works on Windows, Mac and Linux, so try it
out.
Another option is once you’re signed into HootSuite, go to the
Settings drop down menu (shown above), hover over “Tools” and then click
“Create application shortcuts”. Then choose which places you’d like the
shortcut to be placed (shown below). This isn’t installing anything,
but simply placing a link onto your desktop.
The HootSuite app is quite intuitive and easy to use. It’s no doubt a
superior option for managing your social networks. There are lots of
options available, a few of them being support for multiple Twitter
accounts, Facebook (accounts and pages), LinkedIn, Google+ pages,
Foursquare, Myspace,
WordPress and Mixi.
In addition, there are numerous social network apps that you can use
to connect other external services like YouTube, Tumblr and more to
HootSuite.
Note that HootSuite offers both pro and free versions and targets
businesses, but its tools are definitely useful to the average user too.
HootSuite is a web application, meaning it doesn’t matter which
operating system you have, you can use it. The mobile app is supported
by the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
The famous TweetDeck is another long time veteran to the social
networking client category and we have written a lot about it on
MakeUseOf, from
tips to help you use it more efficiently to explaining how to
revert back to the old version of TweetDeck
before it was changed by Twitter.
TweetDeck
has a mobile app, as well as a standalone desktop app and a web app – it
depends on your taste which kind you prefer. Some argue that
the web app is all you need.
Honestly, I feel it depends on your own personal system. Do you have
the browser open more or do you typically use local apps for everything?
TweetDeck works with Twitter (obviously), Facebook and LinkedIn. The desktop version is compatible with Windows and Mac.
MultiMi strives to be
your one-stop-shop on the Internet. You can use it to access Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, even your email and chat.
So what’s the true benefit? That you can do all of these things with the
extra protection of AVG. MultiMi is currently only available for Windows and the iPad. To learn more, the website provides information on
how MultiMi specifically works.
Like MultiMi, Sobees is another Windows and iPad-only application (at
least right now) that you might not have heard of. Although,
we have covered it in an extensive review. Sobees has extensive settings and customizations, including themes. It works with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Contrary to a previous article I wrote about
why you don’t need desktop chat clients,
Digsby and
Trillian
do offer a unique feature that other competition really haven’t
achieved. That is true social network integration. Skype does partner
with Facebook, but it’s not the same. Digsby and Trillian allow you to
check notifications and reply to them directly from the client.
Should you download these
just for the social networking
capability? Probably not (unless you want to), but if you are already
going to be talking to contacts, these offer the ability to do so
without the need for those additional programs and services to be open.
Trillian is great as it also allows you to connect with your Skype
contacts without Skype running, as well as being
available on Android and iOS, both of which are superior to Digsby.
[Bonus] Posting Only: Buffer, Twitter Or Google+
Should you
only want to post to more than one of your social networks and not check them, there are some excellent tools for that as well.
Buffer is great for on-the-fly posting,
scheduling tweets
and posts, and tracking statistics of clicked links. It currently works
with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The Buffer extension, which I
highly recommend using with the service, is compatible with Chrome,
Firefox, Opera and Safari.
If you’re an avid
Twitter user already, perhaps using it as a hub wouldn’t be a bad idea. There are loads of Twitter desktop apps –
Joel has covered some of the best here on MakeUseOf. These include
DestroyTwitter,
MetroTwit
and Janetter, to name a few. Once you have decided on an app to use,
you then can post to Facebook and LinkedIn directly from Twitter with
hashtags
#in (LinkedIn) and
#fb (Facebook using
Selective Tweets) Although, Dave Parrack argues against doing this in his article
Why You Shouldn’t Integrate Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn.
Lastly, you can
use Google+ to cross post to other social networks too.
Conclusion
So you have quite a few options as to what you can use.
Unfortunately, Google+ still currently hasn’t released its API for these
services to allow you to post to it and view the posts in third-party
applications.
Have you tried all of these? If not, which ones are you most excited
about trying? Be sure to let us know what you think after you try it. Or
are you not an advocate of social networking clients?
8. Your Sister's Sister