Tweetdeck? HootSuite? PeopleBrowsr? Seesmic? No, I am not blogging in tongues. I'm undertaking an experiment in personal browsers.
A couple things have happened to me in recent months. First, I've come to really appreciate Twitter. I've been able to enjoy it without it consuming my time or energy. I've also seen benefit--I've been able to connect with, follow and be followed by people in areas of my personal interest and seen Twitter send traffic to my blogs. Secondly, while I enjoy the connections with friends and family that Facebook affords, I've been more and more discouraged with all the extra garbage that FB adds in--most of which I neither have time for nor interest in. Hear me: I don't care what your old lady name is or which 80s musician you most resemble. I don't care what your score on Family Feud was, or how well you know Marcia Brady. I don't care what breed of dog you would be or which celebrity would play you in a television movie. Do you know what's worse? I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU CARE ABOUT THAT STUPIDITY EITHER. GET A LIFE! (Okay... breathing... counting... one... two... three...)
So, I'm looking into personal browsers. I'm wanting to organize my Tweets and filter my Facebook feeds. I want to combine them and keep them separate. I want to maximize them and minimize them.
I've been using Tweetdeck for a couple of months. I must say, I like it. Easy. Convenient. Does a lot of what I want. But has its limits, especially where FB is concerned. A friend recommends HootSuite. I have to tell you the name alone sounds like a hoot! I've been playing with it a bit this week. A blog that I follow recommends Seesmic. I downloaded it last night. Checking it out. Someone else swears by PeopleBrowsr. I will play with that one tonight or tomorrow night.
So, here goes my experiment. I'm going to play with these four platforms. Others, too, if you have any suggestions for me. I'll let you know what I think as I form opinions. I'd also ask you to chime in here with a comment or drop me an email if you have any cool suggestions for me.
One last word--to my Facebook friends--I'm getting ready to do a big cleanse. I'll be defriending some folks. Please understand that this does not mean that I don't love you in real life. It simply means I'm thinning the ranks of my internet social circle. Think of it as my having "voted you off the virtual island" if you will. You might say, "You don't need to defriend, you can simply filter or block their news feeds." Yes, I am well aware of that. But why? Why do I want to have you as a FB friend if we're going to filter or block one another? Know that while I'd rather not read of your exploits on Facebook Family Feud, I would love to have a cup of coffee with you sometime and talk about life. So, give me a call. I'll make time.
Heading into the social networking laboratory.
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