I'm guessing you reviewed Seesmic Desktop on a Mac because the real reason why TweetDeck is the clear winner is this: if/when Seesmic crashes in Windows - which happens fairly regularly, especially when trying to close it - you lose your entire configuration.
The backend settings are okay, but any searches, groups etc you've set up are wiped when it crashes. Which is really annoying.
I've spoken to some Mac friends and they say they haven't experienced this problem, so it appears Windows only (and if you search the various Seesmic Desktop announcements on the web it's a common complaint in comments).
It's a shame as Seesmic Desktop has some nice touches otherwise; but it's unusable on a PC until they sort this out.
Ishaka
· 8 months ago
Thanks Sheamus. Your response cleared things up for me. Will check out your review. Cheers.
Rory Conway
· 8 months ago
I don't understand why AlertThingy is not mentioned here. I'm using v3.1 and as far as I'm concerned, it far surpasses these two apps, both in terms of power (more services and capabilities) and UI. We all know design simplicity is critical and the beauty of AlertThingy is it aggregates all your services into a single column view (with the option to create groups or view in separate columns if you want). The notifications are better than TweetDeck and the UI is also slicker in my opinion. Lastly, the contacts feature, for the first time, gives you the ability to get a comprehensive view of your social media contacts across Facebook, Twitter, and other services; this could be the first step to a truly unified address book. Notwithstanding the name, why is this app not getting more attention? http://www.alertthingy.com
Antonio Calabrese
· 8 months ago
Can't argue with this post - after reading, I downloaded Seesmic to try and work with both of my accounts. Besides the functionality of multiple account use, TweetDeck wins all day. However, I hope to see some great developments from Seesmic as it tweaks its app.
Great post.
Janet
· 8 months ago
I'd like to hear what you think of Nambu compared to both of these. I would have chosen Tweetdeck hands down but I've just switched to Nambu and I'm lovin' it.
cullenw
· 8 months ago
Also using Nambu. It requires a Mac, but it's SO much nicer then anything running on Adobe Air.
Stuart Foster
· 8 months ago
That's pretty much the conclusion I came to this morning Jennifer, when I tried both out. The Seesmic Desktop is awesome for multiple accounts but still has a bit more to do to catch up to the functionality and usefulness of Tweetdeck. It has definitely supplanted Twhirl though.
GPK3
· 8 months ago
Yeah, I have to agree. I prefer TweetDeck over all Twitter clients.
Archana Patchirajan
· 8 months ago
Great!
joemccann
· 8 months ago
Until Seesmic improves the "sleekness" or lack thereof AND intergrates Stocktwits.com, I will use Tweetdeck...period.
Stuart Foster
· 8 months ago
That's pretty much the conclusion I came to this morning Jennifer, when I tried both out. The Seesmic Desktop is awesome for multiple accounts but still has a bit more to do to catch up to the functionality and usefulness of Tweetdeck. It has definitely supplanted Twhirl though.
Jesse Luna
· 8 months ago
Nice review Jennifer! TweetDeck is fortunate it came out with the memory-improved version today or it would have lost a lot of ground to Seesmic Desktop. I tested things out last night and Seesmic was looking better and better every MB.
Both are very powerful tools and I look forward to future innovations from both camps!
SocialSoundSystem
· 8 months ago
I am running 12+ Twitter accounts and think that Seesmic is headed in the right direction. I like it simply for the multi-account functionality. However, little things still make it a chore. You cannot drag and drop active searches as easily as you think (if you click one it becomes active and slides the window all the way so that it is on the left next to the "grounded" main column). So I can't really arrange it as much as I like. I also can't follow people from within these search columns to whichever account I need it to.
For now I'm sticking with what I've been doing... Tweetdeck for my mainstay with Twhirl to supplement all the other accounts.
Here is a list of accounts I'm working with/on: @SocialSound1982 @CSSoundLabs @SlightlyStoopid @PepperLive @Iration @FishboneSoldier @MatMcHugh @RebelutionMusic @TheExpendables @TheGents @FishboneSoldier @JetpilotCompany @LEDlit
Agreed, and I've stuck with TweetDeck for the same reason. However in Seesmic's defense, this is a first release of what is essentially a brand new client, and I'm sure it will get better with time. Either way, competition is good.
Warren Sukernek
· 8 months ago
Great review. I think the improvement of Tweetdeck's memory issues was the clincher for me. I'd love to see a similar comparison of Tweetdeck with Nambu for the Mac.
swag
· 8 months ago
Both will be obsolete in a year.
Jared O'Toole
· 8 months ago
Tweetdeck is definitely still my choice. But for how long who knows. This was a huge step for seesmic and it will be interesting to see how the play catch up or innovate around tweetdeck.
Jmartens
· 8 months ago
We need to stop and ask the question: "why do we even need twitter anymore?"
The truth of the mater is that Twitter plays a small role in our interaction with our friends via micro-blogging. Tweetdeck or Seesmic could easily pull away from Twitter and be THE social network.
They already do more than Twitter does.
Rodney_Rumford
· 8 months ago
it plays a large role because it is THE pipe & platform. I seriously doubt this would happen as collectively they only encompass about ~16% of the Twitter users.
Jennifer Van Grove
· 8 months ago
Jeff...to second Rodney's point, TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop only exist because of Twitter, it's not as if there's an easy to connect to other users on the same application, and if there was, what's the point? You can do it via Twitter - that's where the user base is.
Tegan
· 8 months ago
Huge fan of Tweetdeck, but I really find the 10 columns limiting and the lack of search frustrating, especially when you are trying to add a specific follower to a group.
I'd love to be able to search and bring up any follower without having to wait on a tweet from them to appear.
Have played around with Nambu and its quite reasonable too.
Jeff Baird
· 8 months ago
It's great to see many applications created based on Twitter. One of my favorite applications is http://www.boilingpage.com that shows the hottest pages on the web based on how popular they are in Twitter. I guess it has the great potential of becoming the real-time webpage search engine. Worth taking a look.
Dan Korn
· 8 months ago
What both of these fine apps are missing is an "ungrouped" or "unsorted" group, so that you can see tweets from everyone you're following who you haven't already sorted into one group or another. (Although I won't hold my breath, since I've been waiting for a similar feature from GMail for years.)
geetarchurchy
· 8 months ago
I agree - Tweetdeck is still the best desktop client, but Seesmic's integration of easy switching between multiple accounts means that it will in many fans.
Andrew
· 8 months ago
Seesmic Desktop is also full of bugs on Linux (i tested it on my home computer that runs Ubuntu).
Gary Petrison
· 8 months ago
Like the Seesmic...but when will one of these finally let us save "userlists" / "groups" without having to re-build with every re-start of the program?
Ishaka Greenwell
· 8 months ago
I like and use both applications at present although I find it annoying that each time I log in to SD I have to re-input my searches and detach my replies, sent and DMs into separate columns. This is where TD wins over to me at present.
luca filigheddu
· 8 months ago
If you are using a Mac, I would give Nambu a try... less popular, younger, but I think it beats both ;-)
And what about Nambu? It's Mac-only, but currently beating both Tweetdeck and Seesmic Desktop for me.
Parkersrock
· 8 months ago
I'm no expert or nothing but I think that tweetdeck is ugly, dark and confusing like the bright and cheery look of seesmic plus running more than one account is really simple sorry tweetdeck.I mean I don't use have of those little icons on tweetdeck anyway.
Guillaume
· 8 months ago
I would say that the winner is in a couple of years... People Browsr. If they catch up ( and I am sure they will), they will win the day, just because, well, it is on a browser. Easy to have access to, and from anywhere.
Jannifer
· 8 months ago
I tried to test out Nambu (I have a Mac) and after installing, it doesn't even open for me. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I prefer the single-column simplicity of Twhirl. I just do not care for the multi-column apps.
jorgeblanco
· 8 months ago
For now the usage of any of them depends on the needs of the user. Anybody with two or more accounts to manage will flee to seesmic desktop in a second. I just wish they make seesmic as easy and efficient as tweetdeck. To me it seems the seesmic UI is bloated and slow... but it might be just me...
seanmacdhai
· 8 months ago
yah, TweetDeck rules... especially since they now integrated Facebook, and the new Digg URL shortener. I can now use one interface for all my important stuff.
traeblain
· 8 months ago
Honestly, I'm a little sad at the transition from Twhirl to Seesmic Desktop. In fact, I'd rather see them add the features they have in SD and place them into Twhirl's interface. I've really thought the only thing that Twhirl really needed to match features of TweetDeck were "Tabbed" lists. So if you had multiple accounts, it would lie in the nice little interface under a tab, similar to how it handles saved searches. Then integrate Seesmic for Facebook into they systems and you're golden.
PETER
· 8 months ago
NARROW-CASTING POWER TO THE PEOPLE, USE IT SPARINGLY.
Facebook User
· 8 months ago
There is actually a very easy way to see your own tweets in TweetDeck. First, delete the @replies column. To replace it, simply do a search for your user name. This will bring up all @replies, tweets that weren't meant to be @replies but missed the sign, AND you own tweets.
Do this, and TweetDeck is the best thing out there for single account users.
tina h.
· 8 months ago
when will there be a twitter client that saves column groups and other settings server side so that you can have the same user experience on multiple computers? so many other popular web 2.0 services offer this kind of thing, so why does it not exist yet for twitter? it boggles the mind
pabloCOOL
· 8 months ago
i think DestroyTwitter owns both these apps
Gerard McGarry
· 8 months ago
I think the key feature both need is Twhirl's use of the ping.fm API to cross-post to other services. That'll be the feature that keeps me using Twhirl.
Carl Black
· 8 months ago
Seesmic does not support "in reply to." I asked @askseesmic hen they would support this and got no response. That alone was reason for me to close the program and never launch it again. This is a major part of the API spec that they've apparently ignored or implemented improperly.
RKW
· 7 months ago
Really? I'm surprised. I sent a Seesmic vs. TweetDeck tweet tonight (it wasn't even to "@askseesmic" and @askseesmic replied to me within minutes.
Based on how responsive they were to me, I can't help but think there is a really good explanation as to why you didn't get a reply.
Rex
· 8 months ago
I gotta say that I downloaded TweetDeck @ your recomendation and the first error was that it would not connect. I head to their Feedback site and do a search and there are plenty of discussion from others about this problem and no one at TweetDeck has answered any of the requests for help...
Heading to Seesmic now.
dykerepublic.com
· 8 months ago
Can you change font size in Seesmic? That is one thing I dislike about TweetDeck--the font is too small and no way to change it.
Sue
· 8 months ago
I've used Tweet Deck and as much as I did like the interface I have to say I didn't like the fact that it clogged up the system with all the crap it loaded. Something which I have gotten a liking to however has been Tweet Grid however because it is a simple interface, easy to set your grid layout to however many hash channels you want and you can do the same exact thing done in Twitter except through Tweet Grid.
What I like about Tweet Grid is it doesn't load down your system with all the excessive programs because it doesn't need a fancy interface to run like Adobe Air. In essence, the end user must be happy with what they are using and for right now, I think I will wait until Tweet Deck can cut out some of the excessive coding so it doesn't bog the system down.
Sean McColgan
· 8 months ago
Finally got round to testing out Seemic Desktop (love Twhirl). Experiencing a major bug with this release - multiple crashes on Win Vista - configuration/accounts/searches/groups wiped out everytime on restart.
From inital testing - things I'd like to see on the roadmap - ability to drag n drop users to "user groups", double click search delete, ability for notifications to be full messages from specified usergroups.
Untill bugs are ironed out won't be switching from Twhirl just yet.
Random thought - I wonder if we will see correlation in an increase in 2nd monitor purchase/usage as the "friend/contact browser" becomes a more mainstream utility? TweetDeck/Seemic Desktop use up your whole screen real estate...
xbaez
· 7 months ago
Seesmic Desktop seems pretty good to me because it manage multiple accounts and spend less memory. I think is faster than Twetdeck, although Tweetdeck is so good for people who just has a twitter account and is not a twitter power user ...
Tim Moore
· 7 months ago
Great review Jennifer, thanks! I use SD for multiple accounts, but that is the only reason why. Otherwise I would be on TD. (That is until the next round of features on both are released, then the flopping begins again!)
Jereld Hamilton
· 7 months ago
I'm going to give Seesmic a shot since I need to manage multiple accounts.
Sarina
· 7 months ago
Look out for Tweetie Desktop!!!!
sergi_bosch
· 7 months ago
i've got an off-topic question for you and the other readers: how do you chose whether to make your links "_blank" or "_self"? i notice your link to seesmic desktop in this article is a pop out; whereas in the Beak article tonite [here: http://bacn.me/43/d], the link to Beak [here: http://bacn.me/43e] is " _self" (figuratively). i don't mind either.
Billy Girlardo
· 6 months ago
I wish this article was in tabular form.
CLARINE GARDNER
· 6 months ago
I would love to try these cool features but I can't even get tweetdeck to download. Keep getting error 2032 what is that?
tasarhane
· 5 months ago
seesmic is pretty good with multiple accounts..
Herbert Reininger
· 3 months ago
I guess I'm an exception here too, I don't like TweetDeck AND Seesmic.
Not for their functionality, that's cool, columns and all, but for the very poor interface design in both applications. The more applications I see it seems the Adobe AIR platform is a giant dead end when it comes to user interface design. Why does almost everything have to be non-standard, be it PC or Mac?
I strongly believe keeping it simple is always better. As an aside, I never liked white text on black, it starts irritating my eyes after a while. I know I can change that, but why should I have to?
In a perfect world I would love to have a mesh of Seesmic and TweetDeck, all in the polished interface design of Tweetie.
All Comments
The backend settings are okay, but any searches, groups etc you've set up are wiped when it crashes. Which is really annoying.
I've spoken to some Mac friends and they say they haven't experienced this problem, so it appears Windows only (and if you search the various Seesmic Desktop announcements on the web it's a common complaint in comments).
You can read more in my review here.
It's a shame as Seesmic Desktop has some nice touches otherwise; but it's unusable on a PC until they sort this out.
Great post.
Both are very powerful tools and I look forward to future innovations from both camps!
For now I'm sticking with what I've been doing... Tweetdeck for my mainstay with Twhirl to supplement all the other accounts.
Here is a list of accounts I'm working with/on:
@SocialSound1982
@CSSoundLabs
@SlightlyStoopid
@PepperLive
@Iration
@FishboneSoldier
@MatMcHugh
@RebelutionMusic
@TheExpendables
@TheGents
@FishboneSoldier
@JetpilotCompany
@LEDlit
~SocialSoundSystem
http://socialsoundsystem.com/
The truth of the mater is that Twitter plays a small role in our interaction with our friends via micro-blogging. Tweetdeck or Seesmic could easily pull away from Twitter and be THE social network.
They already do more than Twitter does.
I'd love to be able to search and bring up any follower without having to wait on a tweet from them to appear.
Have played around with Nambu and its quite reasonable too.
http://www.nambu.com
My 2 cents...
Do this, and TweetDeck is the best thing out there for single account users.
Based on how responsive they were to me, I can't help but think there is a really good explanation as to why you didn't get a reply.
Heading to Seesmic now.
What I like about Tweet Grid is it doesn't load down your system with all the excessive programs because it doesn't need a fancy interface to run like Adobe Air. In essence, the end user must be happy with what they are using and for right now, I think I will wait until Tweet Deck can cut out some of the excessive coding so it doesn't bog the system down.
From inital testing - things I'd like to see on the roadmap - ability to drag n drop users to "user groups", double click search delete, ability for notifications to be full messages from specified usergroups.
Untill bugs are ironed out won't be switching from Twhirl just yet.
Random thought - I wonder if we will see correlation in an increase in 2nd monitor purchase/usage as the "friend/contact browser" becomes a more mainstream utility? TweetDeck/Seemic Desktop use up your whole screen real estate...
how do you chose whether to make your links "_blank" or "_self"? i notice your link to seesmic desktop in this article is a pop out; whereas in the Beak article tonite [here: http://bacn.me/43/d], the link to Beak [here: http://bacn.me/43e] is " _self" (figuratively). i don't mind either.
Not for their functionality, that's cool, columns and all, but for the very poor interface design in both applications. The more applications I see it seems the Adobe AIR platform is a giant dead end when it comes to user interface design. Why does almost everything have to be non-standard, be it PC or Mac?
I strongly believe keeping it simple is always better. As an aside, I never liked white text on black, it starts irritating my eyes after a while. I know I can change that, but why should I have to?
In a perfect world I would love to have a mesh of Seesmic and TweetDeck, all in the polished interface design of Tweetie.