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Unless you enjoyed Twitter via txt, mobile Twitter clients have only just begun their breakthrough into the masses. In early 2008, ReadWriteWeb released an article on 20 of the most popular Twitter clients surveyed from a pool of 37,000 tweets. Only one mobile Twitter client made the list: PocketTweets.

Mobile Twitter Clients Break Out

Fast forward over a year later and popular mobile Twitter clients such as UberTwitter, Tweetie for iPhone, TweetDeck for the iPhone, and Echofon are ranking higher and higher in the race to be the best Twitter client. Not too far down the list are clients such as Twitterberry and the Symbian king of Twitter, Gravity (mobile twitter client review). Other mobile clients and services are also making the cut though they aren’t solely Twitter clients like Viigo, Foursquare, and PixelPipe. This is definitely only the beginning of mobile breakthroughs, especially with Twitter clients.

The Value In Using Mobile Twitter Clients

They offer a ton of advantages over desktop clients:

• You’re not tied to your desktop.
  Now you can connect an easier way at conferences by using a mobile Twitter client to make an instant connection that you can follow up with later.
• You don’t need to be at home.
  If workshifting plays a huge role in your schedule, investing in a mobile Twitter client can be a big help with managing your Twitter account on the go.
• Everything you need. Nothing you don’t.
  Twitter developers are really smart. They take care of your most important social needs first, yet still make time for your wants via integrations of numerous Twitter services like the j.mp (Bit.ly) url shortener or Instapaper for reading tweeted content later.
• Less distracting.
  You can only stare down at your phone screen for so long before your neck cramps. So, mobile Twitter clients are great for getting in and getting out without all the distractions. No more beeps and chirps in the middle of a conversation.
• There’s one for everyone.
  Don’t worry about which phone to use today because there’s a mobile Twitter client for every major mobile platform including Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile, and of course the iPhone.

There’s plenty of mobile twitter clients to go around. In the end, the focus is always on the best and quickest way for you to get your Twitter updates on the go.

What’s Next?

They’re part of a growing trend where desktop developers are finding the addition of a mobile service to be extremely valuable for adding new users. More clients are coming out of the wild specifically for tweeting other forms of media such as video and images. Twitpic, a popular photo-sharing service for Twitter, has their own iPhone app. Twitter users are finding mobile clients to be fun for keeping their friends updated on the weekends, and also getting their news on the go during the week.

We’re clearly going to be increasing our usage of Twitter on the go, especially at conferences where twitter hashtags are a popular way of keeping others up to date on what’s what.

• What mobile Twitter clients have you tried?
• What’s your favorite so far? What platform is it for (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)?
• Has your Twitter usage increased because of your mobile client?