Back in the earlier days of 3rd party Twitter apps (just a few months ago, actually), a few very effective web-based services got my attention: SocialToo, TweetLater, and HootSuite. Sad thing was, while they were all very powerful services, they were all poorly designed, very hacked together, and fugly. Enter the elegant, sexy, feature-rich HootSuite 2.0 (no matter what you think about all the controversy and extortion — see below).
Everyone’s talking about HootSuite 2.0
Today, while I was monitoring my stream-o-tweets, I noticed that every third person of the 2,587 I currently follow were tweeting that they “upgraded to #HootSuite 2.0 because it works http://hootsuite.com/upgrade.” HootSuite — pronounced like it sounds (HOOT-sweet) and a play on the French phrase tout de suite — was the first online player to offer multi-Twitter-account management and Twittering, an essential tool to any business application of Twitter that required the management of more than one Twitter account, such as @marcon, @abrahamharrison, @chrisabraham, etc.
HootSuite 1.0 was ugly
I used HootSuite to manage multiple accounts, in spite of very basic, very Web 1.0 forms-based interface. HootSuite allowed me to simply pop tweets to one or more account and to manage as many as I wanted. I used it as I expanded into new accounts. And then there was Seesmic Desktop, by Loic Le Meur, and now there is TweetDeck, both AIR apps that are multi-platform clients that I personally really love: their ease of use, their look and feel, and their modern design.
HootSuite 2.0 is a hottie
Today, as I alluded to earlier, HootSuite got a lot of work done. In fact, I feel like I am in some sort of before and after makeover scene in morning TV. HootSuite 2.0 is a hottie: gorgeous, stunning, modern and Ajaxy, integrating new levels of innovation that leaves every Twitter-inspired web services in its technological wake — even Twitter!
Looking good even on my small-screen laptop
I run a Lenovo x61 ThinkPad, which only has a 12.1-inch screen, which doesn’t work very well with TweetDeck (it just isn’t wide enough). Seesmic Desktop does a little better with a pretty cool “shuffling” innovation. However, HootSuite does it the best, using a regular browser to display lots and lots of information by means of scrollers and tabs, allowing everything to be contained simply and quickly using even my pathetically small “executive” laptop and might even work swimmingly in a netbook with a 10-inch screen.
All of the other stuff is crap compared to what’s really cool
I have been saving the best for last: HootSuite allows you to create columns with persistent search, meaning you can keep your eyes on what is going on around your brand, your name, your competitors, and your industry. Psych! That’s not the big deal! The big deal is that “you can now take your column with you,” meaning you can create a search for something like #Socialmedia.biz. This is really cool and so innovative! You can set up your own dashboard, you can shoehorn the stream into your blog’s or site’s nav bar — lots of stuff. Nobody else offers this, as far as I can tell, and this is a winner! The reason why we all use and worship YouTube is partially because it was one of the first video hosting sites that allowed one to embed content. You might not know it now, but this is a big deal!
Embeddable columns widget
Apparently, Twitter embeddable search, too
Update: Right after I posted this article, I popped the link to the lovely and brilliant Adele McAlear, who popped me the note via Google Talk, “I think someone else does the widget… I’ll find it…one sec. Yeah…its Twitter themselves. Customizable. Announced this week based on search.twitter. I’ve already embedded one on my blog (which explains why I’ve seen it, smacks head). Yes, the link works in my left sidebar. Custom search terms, sizes, colours, mouse over “join the conversation” in the widget to see the search terms used.” Well, there you have it! Here’s the link to the Twitter Widget Search.
Controversy
Now, the controversy: remember that “I upgraded to #HootSuite 2.0 because it works http://hootsuite.com/upgrade” tweet I have been seeing all over the Twittosphere? Well, here’s the controversy and the genius: if you want to upgrade to HootSuite version 2 — if you really want to upgrade — then you have to be willing to tweet “I upgraded to #HootSuite 2.0 because it works http://hootsuite.com/upgrade” or there’s no moving forward. Coercion! Blackmail! Extortion! Brilliant! Worth it! Shameless! Arrogant! How dare you!
Well, I think it worked. Just today, there were at least 2,133 mentions of the Twitter hashtag #hootsuite, roughly equivalent to a minor earthquake or coup d’état insurrection. I mean, it works and it got my attention, it got JD’s attention, and the messaging — my messaging — wasn’t even the result of a direct mail. And, when I repeated the message to my 10k+ followers, it was willingly. I mean, what price tweeting to get a glimpse of what everyone is on about.
What do you think?
Update: Blake Samic commented that there are parts of HootSuite that I hadn’t yet explored, “I’m interested to see how their analytics engine stacks up to something like ‘su.pr‘ (another great scheduled-tweet app). The other interesting feature I noticed in Hootsuite was the ability to have multiple people managing a Twitter account (kind of like Co-Tweet).”Chris Abraham is a partner in Socialmedia.biz. Contact Chris via email, follow him on Twitter and Google Plus or leave a comment below.
Chris, I agree with you. This is certainly a big improvement over the last Hootsuite. I really dig the embeddable search widget, and I think we'll be seeing it everywhere before long. I'm interested to see how their analytics engine stacks up to something like 'su.pr' (another great scheduled-tweet app). The other interesting feature I noticed in Hootsuite was the ability to have multiple people managing a Twitter account (kind of like Co-Tweet). And one last thing… the upgrade 'controversy' was a brilliant move. Especially now, before everyone is sick of stuff like that happening all the time.
I got the email and tried it out. Since HootSuite has already gained my respect, I had no problem tweeting on their behalf. And 2.0 earned my respect. I'm excited mostly because it's not a separate program that eats up all my memory!
FYI, your link to TweetDeck was to "TweedDeck", not the same site and application. Pls update so you're not sending readers to the link-farm parking site.
I also am loving the new hootsuite. My favorite is being able to set a column for searches – and they are dependent on the account! Each account has its own tab and each tab can have its own set of columns! Really really digging that since I have multiple niche stores with corresponding niche twitter accounts. Now I can monitor their niche subject matters without having to change key words on Monittor (my other fav research twitter app). Very very cool!
Mac, we fixed the typo, thanks.
I'm a sucker for Ajax, so I'll start using HootSuite today and see how it stacks up against TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop. Creating Groups is genius and looks like a breeze. Thanks for the great primer, Chris!
I started using HootSuite because I didn't want an application on my desk top slowing down my processing – I know they don't slow it down by much, but it was still noticeable.
Now I use HootSuite 2.0 simply because it is a powerful tool that combines many of the functions that I was using two or more applications to do.
I also recommend HootSuite 2.0 to any business that has more than one person using the same Twitter account. You can give out a HootSuite login and never compromise the real Twitter password.