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The Cure for Social Networking Anxiety

Posted September 21 by Robbie Byrd in Business of Business, Technology, Public Relations

The typical morning of a social media guru consists of updating Facebook. Then Twitter. Then MySpace. The pure monotony of the task can not only be daunting, but the increasing dread of this daily task can lead to social withdrawal. Luckily, there are several tools that can help a social butterfly keep up with these networks and update each one, all from the same application.

By far, the most popular social application is Tweetdeck. While technically still in beta form, the application is used by the likes of Comcast and Popeyes Chicken. The application not only allows a user to view, post, reply and follow people on Twitter, it also allows management of Facebook and MySpace pages and profiles. Tweetdeck also has some neat features for photo and video sharing: it will automatically upload media to Facebook, and post a shortened link on Twitter to a video. Anyone who uploads media daily recognizes this as a social boon and timesaver.

Tweetdeck is free and available at tweetdeck.com.

If MySpace isn't your thing, then take a look at Seesmic Desktop. It offers more features for businesses looking to maintain a Facebook page, along with a more organized view of your Twitter account. Plus, it offers additional features for tracking what people are saying about your brand: both on Facebook and Twitter.

Seesmic runs as a desktop application, but also has a web and iPhone version for people on the go. While the web and iPhone versions lack some of the more advanced features of the desktop client, they are still light years ahead of using both Twitter and Facebook manually. Download Seesmic for free at seesmic.com.

If you're a large brand looking to promote and track your company on Twitter, then CoTweet is the tool for you.

Including advanced support for multiple users and assignments, CoTweet is ideal for any business with more than one social networking developer. Cotweet allows brand managers to setup schedules for people "on duty" to immediately respond to customer observations on Twitter. This is ideal for struggling or troubled brands who need quick resolution to vocal, unsatisfied customers. CoTweet can alert you via email when someone mentions your business.

CoTweet's most novel feature is threaded conversations, which turn Twitter more into an internet forum, rather than a batch of unorganized comments. The built-in short url support also allows you to track the number of people clicking on your Twitter links, giving you insight into how well your social networking campaign is actually working.

CoTweet is web-based amd currently free for use at cotweet.com.