Friday, April 09, 2010

Twitter Toolkits: Tweet Like the Experts Do

According to a post from Read Write Web this week, Twitter's app Store OneForty will now offer Twitter "toolkits," which are expert-compiled lists of Twitter apps Tweeters can use to enhance their Twitter experience.

I am a huge fan of OneForty, and think the new "toolkit" feature will be a great addition to Twitter's app store. OneForty, which is owned by colleague Laura Fitton, launched in 2009 and has thus far proved to be an excellent resource for those who are either new to Twitter or looking for ways to better engage the 140-character micro-blogging site. The app store organizes various third-party Twitter or Twitter-created applications into categories such as advertising, monitoring, networking, news, productivity, shopping and more. Then it gives you a list of the top tools in each respective category along with user feedback and reviews. It's a great resource for all, but especially those who may not have the time to stumble upon or try out several different Twitter tools before finding the ones that best meet their needs.

Now, with Twitter toolkits, users can experience Twitter the way the experts do, or just the way other users do. It's similar to the iMix playlists in iTunes. Sure, you could take the time to sift through all the alternative music iTunes has to offer, or you could do a search for alternative music iMixes and get user-generated, listener-reviewed play lists that meet your criteria in seconds. This is what a Twitter toolkit does, except it features toolkits compiled by Twitter gurus like Guy Kawasaki or PR professional Steve Rubel. They rank their top Twitter apps and tell you why they like them and you decide whether or not they suit your needs.

It's a great way to better engage Twitter without a making a huge time investment. What could be better?

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