Blogging Tips

TwitHive is a web application for Twitter that lets you monitor multiple accounts in column view; it very much resembles TweetDeck and Seesmic. It lets you filter tweets by groups, search queries, RT’s and more. It also claims to integrate Google News and Blog Search when tracking keyword mentions. It has a built in URL shortener so that you can shorten links before tweeting or retweeting. Best of all, you can login and add accounts via Twitter OAuth, so there’s no need to enter your credentials at any time.

You can of course create new updates and direct messages via the new update window (pictured below). To send a DM you will need to enter the person’s username name; you cannot select from a list. So you have to be very careful to type it correctly or it will not go through. Maybe in the future, auto-fill can be implemented or a more reliable form of direct messaging.

When you first start, you will not have any columns – you’ll need to create them. Column are made by creating a new “channel”. You can create channels according to tweets, groups, direct messages or search queries. Lists are not supported, but you can create a group channel and add users to it to keep up with them that way. You’ll have the option to choose which account you’d like to create the channel for and you will have to give each channel a name. One thing I did notice is that there isn’t an option to show @mentions in a channel. I guess that’s included in “All” under show tweets?

Columns can be set to refresh automatically or manually. You can also move them around and arrange them as you like. Links are opened in a new tab but clicking on someone’s name will open up a mini profile right in TwitHive. In addition to the regular bio, location and link you can also see 3 different tweet streams: the first being the user’s tweets, the second being their following’s tweets, the third being their follower’s tweets.

You can RT and reply to tweets but those are all the available options available at this time. The new style of retweeting is not supported (yet); you’re allowed to edit your tweet before posting. Also, if you’ve added multiple accounts you can also choose which account to RT it from.

Lastly, there’s the search link that will let you search all or Twitter as well as view the current trending topics. Once again, you can RT or reply to tweets.

TwitHive seems like a great, lightweight alternative to TweetDeck or Seesmic. Plus it helps that there is no download needed, it’s all right in your browser. It may not be the best choice for power users but it’s great for monitoring many different queries on Twitter. What do you think?