SheGeeks

Are you familiar with the Twitter client TweetDeck? If not, you might want to jump on the bandwagon. With the release of Tweetdeck’s iPhone application, I’ve noticed something that every Twitter developer needs to pay attention to: Tweetdeck is locking users in for a very long time. How so you ask?

1. Tweetdeck for the iPhone
   A mobile application has become very important for a lot of workshifter. Personally, I hate working at a desk day in and day out. Half of Tweetdeck’s users probably feel the same way. The services and tools we choose to use have to be able to keep up with users, literally!

   
   

2. PORTABLE Groups
   Not only did they lock users in via an iPhone app and a desktop client, they delivered on their promise with the addition of group synchronization for both clients.
   
3. Alerts
   For some odd reason, I love TweetDecks alerts and they’re infamous within the geek community. It’s a mixture of the visual appeal of them and the nextel chirp-sound that accompanies new alerts that users love. Plus, window users get a faux-mac feature.
   
4. Total Package…Well, Almost (see image below)
   
   
   
5. Consistent Updates & User Experience
   The team behind TweetDeck is constantly pushing up new updates for their desktop client. Now, if only we could get them to address the iPhone, or maybe we need to go after Apple for that. Either way, the experience from Tweetdeck on the iPhone and desktop is insightful, efficient, and visually mindblowing.

What do you think: Is Tweetdeck locking you in?

Popularity: 6% [?]

I’m guilty of cheating on Google Reader with Feedly. I can’t help it. Feedly is practically everything I could want in a feed reader (waiting on Google Chrome support and/or a Feedly Adobe Air app). From the team behind it to the application itself, Feedly is an amazing web-based RSS Reader! What separates it from other RSS readers on the desktop and the web is the peace of mind that Feedly provides when it comes to consuming content from the blogs I subscribe to.

Wait, did she just say peace of mind? Get real, right? I am! First, let me state that I love sharing stuff in Google Reader. Since I can’t blog a response to every article that I enjoyed or leave a comment on all of them, I can press Shift + S and share it. My Google Reader Shared Items is my way of saying thanks.

Lately, Google Reader has become more like a torture device. I’m not alone in this thinking either. It’s a never ending cycle of (1000+) unread items, after only 30 minutes of clicking “mark all as read”. Here’s the real problem: it’s not all about the numbers. While seeing 1000+ unread is a sure way for me to hit “mark all as read”, Google Reader is just plain boring for me to look at period. I don’t blame those who don’t care about RSS if they have to sit in Google Reader all day. Google’s simplicity just doesn’t cut it for me when it comes to constantly sifting through the diverse content that I subscribe to.
 

This view was great when first getting started, but became very boring to see everyday once my subscriptions started to pile up.

As my feed reading habits have evolved, Google Reader has taken away from my feed reading experience more than it serves to enhanced it. When it comes to features, Google Reader is lagging behind the competition tremendously. There’s no way for me to selectively share some of the content I’m reading to Twitter unless I use a greasemonkey script. Even with that script comes another problem: it doesn’t use Bit.ly as a link shortener and I want stats. See where I’m going with this?

Unlike traditional desktop and web-based clients, Feedly is packed with features for the most casual RSS readers to power users such as myself. I can twitter anything I’m reading or watching, share it to my Google Reader shared items, participate in any Friendfeed discussions that might be taking place, and get stats on the links I share. There are tons more features than the aforementioned that has made Feedly a one-stop feed-reader for me.

Now this is more like it! (Feedly Digest View)

Feedly has made me more enthusiastic about going through my feeds, or at least I don’t dread 1000+ unread items. In fact, I never seen anywhere near that number in Feedly. With Google Reader I felt forced to focus on the amount of content I was about to consume. Feedly takes a different approach by fitting the content I’m consuming, instead of forcing that content to fit the application. I’ve learned to use the various layout options that Feedly offers to digest my feeds more quickly and efficiently, while adding to my feed reading experience.  In doing so, I don’t focus on unread counts or even the amount of subscriptions I have. Feedly keeps my focus on what I’m consuming.

It doesn’t hurt to have an awesome team behind you too. The team behind Feedly has represented a team that understands what a user should be able to do in a feed reader. Understand that it’s not just about the features people. It’s about the overall experience that these features create independently and when combined. Quite frankly, Feedly is just a lot better than what I’m seeing in Google Reader everyday. How has your feed reading experience been lately?

Note: If you’re wondering why I still use Google Reader from time to time, it’s because I’m able to process large unread items quicker with Google Reader since I’m used to its interface. Also, Feedly requires Firefox and I no longer use FF as my default browser.

Popularity: 9% [?]

This is a guest post by Peggy Dolane of Provient Marketing, a marketing copy and strategy for the internet.

   
Are you crazy about StumbleUpon? Do you love sharing links on Twitter?  Then you need to discover a little secret – you can post your stumble reviews on Twitter right from StumbleUpon!

How To Tweet from StumbleUpon

First:  Join the StumbleUpon Beta Group.  (You can find the Join Group at the top left of the page.)

Then: Next time you give a thumbs up to a page that’s been stumbled before, add a review by clicking on the “Reviews of this page” icon on your StumbleUpon toolbar.
 

Next:  Add a short review (110 character or less is optimal if you want retweets).  Look closely, right under the Update review button you’ll see a Syndication options link.  Open it and check the Post to Twitter box:

StumbleUpon will then ask you to allow its application to access your Twitter account.  Say yes.

Now:  Click “Add review”  Your review will be added to the Stumble AND posted to your Twitter account.  Cool, huh?

Here’s the tricky part.  I haven’t figured out how to do this from an original Stumble.  I can only do it when I’m adding my own review to a post someone else has already discovered.  If you figure out how, please let us all know in the comments.  Happy Twitter/Stumbling.

Popularity: 33% [?]