Real quick because I need to leave for a bike ride. Matt Cutts tweeted last night about a script that alters the way Twitter looks on the web. I am a big fan of Tweetdeck but I also use the web interface a lot with Twitter. Some of the advantages of using Tweetdeck include RT or retweet button, groups, auto-update and this firefox extension does not solve all of those issues but is a start.
Troys Twitter Script adds the RT button, nests in conversations, shows friends conversations (even if you are not following their friends), expands urls and images into the feed.
Here is a short example from my profile page: Davis CA Real Estate
Yeah sorry about the highlight – guess I’m always looking at the no-follows. The conversation is there now on my profile page – anyone with this firefox extension can see who I was talking to and follow the conversation even if they aren’t following the same people. This works the same way on the home page as well.
I think this extension is going to work best for people who are following a manageable number of people (for me that number seems to be about 100). The twitter stream goes by too quickly in my opinion for this to work with several hundred friends. There is also still no way to group people, so would not likely work with large following counts.
I have interests in a few different areas so with this script I can keep an eye on more things and people without actually adding them. It’s not that I don’t want to add more people, just don’t really find it necessary to add people I don’t have a connection with. This script could actually help build connections with people because they will see more of the conversation and really might be a way to jump into more conversations. One thing though to keep in mind, the cryptic nature of Twitter also has meant you could send subtle “hints” to friends without too much worry that other people would catch on – at least I do – with conversations nested – more people can follow those conversations as well. It really is no different if someone uses http://search.twitter.com however someone has to type in your username or topic etc. to see that conversation.
Here is the Beer Planet post that Matt Cutts linked to on Twitter : Twitter.com Autocomplete it has a more detailed review of the script. Read that if you are still not convinced this script will help you. Have to run, having some pancakes before the bike ride.
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Carolyn, I had to laugh at first when I saw you writing about Matt Cutts! Thanks for the heads up about the script. I just starting using Tweetdeck about a week ago and I’m so happy with the improved functionality (over the web ap) that I’m tweeting a lot more (even sometimes when I probably shouldn’t, ~lol). By the way, I don’t have an iPhone yet either but for reasons I won’t get into I am using a Mac and my Treo doesn’t synchronize properly. So I’m going to buy an iPhone in the next two weeks so I can stop running the risk of losing all my data. I hate to change phones as I know there will be learning curve and this is a bad time of year to be putting more on my plate, but at least I won’t be changing carriers!