With Twitter and Facebook increasing in popularity each day, keeping track of conversations on both services can prove to be a time-consuming task. And many social media fanatics don’t stop at just one account for either of these sites. Some use the services for social engagement as well as business branding. So, how do you keep all the ensuing conversations from running away with you and your time? Seesmic Desktop – a client specifically designed to combine both services into one easy to use program.
A bit on background
The predecessor to Seesmic Desktop was Twhirl, another desktop client that integrates many online social media sites into one convenient package. In April, 2008 Seesmic purchased Twhirl and rebuilt the program into an entirely new version. The software relies upon Adobe AIR and it is free to download (though a requirement prior to downloading is registering with Seesmic). The software is compatible with both PCs and Macs. Installation of the program is quick and simple. Once installed, it’s then a matter of adding your Twitter account(s), your Facebook account and you are basically on your way.
Customizing the program
Clicking on the cog wheel at the bottom left-hand of the Seesmic Desktop panel brings up a settings panel. At the opening tab you’ll see where you can add additional Twitter accounts and your Facebook account (if you didn’t set this up upon installing). Under the “General” tab you can choose whether to have the program start automatically upon logging into your computer, a spell check option (U.S. English only supported at this time), and an option to hide the window upon minimization.
Another option listed here is the ability to enable “smart account selection.” In a nutshell, this feature will allow Seesmic Desktop to automatically select the account it deems is correct for replying or re-tweeting – eliminating the need to manually switch accounts for responding. The next tab, “Timelines” allows you to set limits on how many messages you want showing in your columns and gives you options on what you would like to show in your home timeline. Enabling or disabling window and sound notifications upon events can be found within the “Notifications” tab. Another nice feature is the ability to choose from one of many URL shortening services and image sharing services (found in the “Services” tab).
Once you have your Seesmic Desktop settings perfected, you can move onto changing the main screen. The screen is initially set with home (those you follow), replies (replies to you) and direct messages timelines. You can easily create new groups to categorize friends, work associates or even specific topic related accounts. Another nice feature is the search function which allows you to quickly search all of Twitter – simply type in the word or words you are looking for, press enter and a new timeline box will open up with the most recent tweets that include your keywords.
Lastly, you can change the paneling of the main screen with just a simple click of one of the icons shown at the bottom left. You can opt for a single column view, one fixed column and several detached columns or all columns detached. Also a control to change the detached column widths is available. So, you’re not limited to the stock setup upon installation which is a plus with any social media program.
Conclusion
All told, Seesmic Desktop is an excellent program to view and manage your social networking, thus allowing you to connect to potential clients in a easy and streamlined fashion. Easy to install, very configurable and set to allow for numerous Twitter accounts, this desktop program is definitely one to check out.
