Tips For Twitter (and Buzz)

So you've said goodbye to Facebook and you've moved to fully to Twitter. You've messed with twitter some, but you want to be able to use it efficiently. For a while now, you have been navigating the UI catacombs of Facebook and you are ready for a streamlined social client where you can communicate quickly and effectively and get on with your day. Look no further than the extension gallery of Google Chrome.

Twitter has many good clients for all types of environments. Most of us, however, do most of our computing within a web browser. So I'm going to share a few Chrome extensions with you that allow you to use all of the functions of Twitter without leaving the webpage or minimizing your browser.

Chrowety - Chrowety is Bentok's twitter client of choice. It installs a button that displays the number of unread tweets you have. When you click the extension, it brings down a popup window with a very attractive UI. Reply to a tweet by clicking under it, which expands an area to type your response which has a Wave-esque feel to it. It has tabs across the top which show you all of your mentions, direct messages, favorites and lists. When you share a link with Chrowety it uses goo.gl to shorten it. [Click images to enlarge.]

Chromed Bird - Hammer's Twitter client of choice, Chromed Bird is a great extension for a Twitter newbie like myself. I can do everything I want without going to Twitter's website. Easy to use, too. Here are some features listed on the extension's main page:
* [NEW] Add and remove timeline tabs "on the fly" using the new right-click context menu;
* [NEW] Create custom search queries that will update automatically;
* [NEW] Preview image links by hovering them (Thanks to Takuo Kitame);
* See all your tweets in an unified timeline;
* Follow your timelines (including @mentions, lists, DMs and favorites) and navigate through your tweets;
* Compose, reply, RT, share, favorite and delete tweets;
* Create short URLs within the extension;
* Preview shortened URLs before clicking them;
* Track read / unread tweets;
* Notify user whenever new tweets arrive



Google Share Button - Click on this button when you are reading a good article and you want to share the link with your friends and family. You can share it on Google Reader (which in turn will be shared on Buzz) or on Twitter among a myriad of other networks.

Feedly - Feedly is an uber client for people who primarily use Google Buzz and Twitter as their social clients. Feedly opens a web page that displays all of your unread Google Reader and Google Buzz items in a very attractive magazine format. It is a very enjoyable way to read your friends' updates. It also displays the 7 most recent tweets of the people you follow on Twitter as well as the "karma" of your 3 most recent tweets. Karma just refers to how many people follow the links that you share on twitter, which gives you an idea of how people are responding to the stuff you are sharing.