If you love getting organized, you’ll love Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is the key that not only opens the door to greater accessibility but can make your entire Twitter experience so much fun — especially for those who love easy organization.

How Tweetdeck works:

1. Download Tweetdeck (TweetDeck runs on the Adobe AIR runtime. To use TweetDeck, you will need to install Adobe AIR first.)

2. Login and you will see THREE COLUMNS: One column is a list of the Tweeple you follow [ALL FRIENDS] with the most recent 100 tweets (including your own). The second and third columns are likely to be empty.

3. One of the empty columns is called DIRECT MESSAGES. When you SEND one of your followers a DM [direct message], it will appear in this column.

4. The other empty column is called REPLIES. Here you will see messages that mention your twitter name, i.e., @twittername, e.g., @sharisax. [An “advanced move” is to change this column, but that can wait for a later post from me or you can read about it within a blog called Twittercism.]

5. Now you are ready to take a look at the boxes that run along the top, beginning on the left above your columns. The first box TWEET will open up the text insert line that allows you to write your 140 character message. [The box turns red if your message goes over the limit.] The input line below the tweet line is used for shortening a long URL: simply type in the complete URL, click SHORTEN, and your smaller URL is inserted into your message.  The TWITPIC box next to Shorten allows you to add picture files. When your message is complete, click your enter key and the message will be sent to Twitter.

6.  Tweetdeck has many additional features, but you may want to play with just two of them before you begin further investigation. The sixth box from the left [after the Tweet box] is called GROUP. When you click on Group, another column pops up: ADD A GROUP. You are asked to name the group.

• Many Tweeple use a column to separate the most interesting and important people they are following from the rest of the pack, so often this column is identified as A-List. You will see a “drop down”  listing of ALL of the people you follow, and you click on those you wish to be in your “A-List” or whatever you choose to call the group.

• When you are finished selecting group members, simply click on SAVE GROUP at the bottom, and then you will have a separate stream of tweets from group members. This makes it easy for you to “follow” a lot of people and not have to read through all their tweets to get to the ones you want.

7. The final “beginner’s tip” is the box to the right of Group. This is TWITTER SEARCH. When you click here, you will get an input box asking what you are searching for. You can try any topic, even your name. When you hit enter, another column is added with the Tweets mentioning the word or phrase (just as if you had gone to the Twitter Search site.

HINT: When I set up my first additional group and search columns, I thought some had “disappeared” because I couldn’t see them. Then I discovered the movable bar below the columns that allows you to move to the right or left to access all your columns even when they extend past your screen size.

NOTE: Additional sources: Chris Spagnuolo’s EdgeHopper, and here’s a site that answers Tweetdeck FAQ

FINAL SUGGESTION: These tips listed above are just to get you started. The Real Fun begins when you discover some of the functions on your own — So Download Tweetdeck and Enjoy!

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