Social networking is all the rage right now, and Twitter is no exception. TweetDeck is a Twitter client for Twitter users that want more out of Twitter. TweetDeck has tons and tons of features, and is very attractive. TweetDeck is owned and developed by Twitter itself, but before Twitter purchased TweetDeck it was still pretty popular. If you’re not satisfied with what you get when you go to Twitter.com, TweetDeck might be just what you’ve been looking for.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

Simply put, TweetDeck is a Twitter client. A very powerful Twitter client. The best part about TweetDeck is the features. If you manage a couple social network accounts (I happen to do such a thing) this program is the best you can get. You can see who retweets you, who favorites your tweets, who lists you, you can have multiple columns and there’s even some support for Facebook.

Pros

• Multiple account support
• Facebook integration
• Scheduled tweets
• Automatically shortens URLs for every URL you tweet.
• Tweet as multiple accounts (including Facebook accounts) as possible
• Desktop notifications
• You’re notified when someone favorites your tweet, retweets you, replies to you or lists you.
• Black and white color themes
• Able to change the size of columns

Cons

• Columns look awkward when there’s too many of them and it’s sort of just an endless scroll to see them.
• Columns, when too many are added peek out of the screen to the side instead of staying hidden until you scroll towards them.
• The white color skin is hideous.
• Notifications sometimes do not work.

Discussion

I love Twitter and I use it every single day. I manage a few accounts aside from my personal account so it’s obviously a pain to keep signing out and signing back in. TweetDeck is a no brainer. It had me at multiple account support, but my favorite feature is the columns. I love all the stats TweetDeck has to offer. It’s really a big help if you’re managing a brand’s social networking profile, or you’re just a stats nerd.

The only major problems I have with TweetDeck is in regard to the user interface side of things. If you’ve read any of my reviews in the past, you’ll notice that I’m critical of user interface. Some people like to say that UI shouldn’t matter, and it’s the job the program does that is the most important. I disagree. A user interface, when done perfectly  can get you noticed. Users want a user interface that is beautiful and intuitive. Not a clouded mess. TweetDeck doesn’t bug me too much in the user interface department.

Now, what I mean by the “user interface problems”  I had with TweetDeck is this. The columns are a great feature, and a fundamental part of how TweetDeck works, but if you put in too many columns at a time it’s not very organized. You just have to endlessly scroll. It’d be really nice to see a button bar that I can press that will go to the exact column I want instead of clicking the left or right arrow and watching the columns slide. I know it sounds nit-picky but I find it really off-putting.

Other than that, I really have nothing too bad to say about TweetDeck. I use the program every day, and I can’t stand any other Twitter client. I guess I’m just too accustomed to how TweetDeck works. TweetDeck is essentially the perfect tool if you’re really interested in managing a slew of Twitter accounts and you want to do it in style.

CONCLUSION AND DOWNLOAD LINK

Twitter is a pretty big site, but the market for Twitter clients is pretty niche. As state above, I use TweetDeck every day (in some form or another) and I have the Android app installed on my phone. I really enjoy how TweetDeck works, and if you’re really interested in finding a good, full featured Twitter client, TweetDeck might just be what you want. I have a hard time thinking of another client that comes close to it.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 2.3

Supported OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8

Download size: 469.9 KB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/46

Is it portable? No

TweetDeck homepage