I’ve long been a Hootsuite advocate, teaching clients and colleagues how the tool can help you use Twitter effectively and save time.
But two weeks ago Hootsuite made a change that has its community up in arms. The company added a publisher function that allows teams of users to better coordinate. Great feature. Except that when Hootsuite implemented it, they deleted the Pending Tweets column on the main dashboard, causing an inconvenience for users like me. Because I schedule tweets in bulk for clients every morning, I need to be able to easily see pending tweets without clicking over to another page.
That, and Hootsuite’s occasionally slow. It usually works great, but I tend to remember the mornings when it takes forever to process, because those are the days when I scramble to get to my day job on time.
So I decided to try Tweetdeck. I downloaded it both on my work computer and at home, and went about making it look the way I like. But after just two days, I’m going back to Hootsuite — and hoping they re-implement the Pending Tweets column. Pretty please? UPDATE: The Pending Tweets column is back! Score for Hootsuite!
Here’s the deal-breaker for Tweetdeck: It doesn’t offer tabs for different accounts. Which is fine if you’re just using the tool for your own personal Twitter handle. But if you have a handle for yourself and for work — and clients on top of that — one screen with a zillion columns doesn’t cut it. I need tabs for organization. They make it easier to see what I want to see, and help me avoid tweeting from my work account when I’m trying to tweet from @alexisgrant — which, of course, can be a career-ruining mistake.
Then there’s the runner-up deal-breaker: I can’t access Tweetdeck from anywhere. What if I’m at my sister’s place, watching the softball NCAA championships, and I get an email from a client that requires me to make a change to tweet I scheduled earlier that day? With Hootsuite, I just jump onto my sister’s computer, pull up the site and log in, and make the change. No can do with Tweetdeck, because it’s not Web-based. You have to install it first.
That means I’m sticking with Hootsuite.
Which do you use: Hootsuite or Tweetdeck? What are your favorite features? What features do you wish it had?
I currently use Tweetdeck, but this post has me thinking seriously about looking into Hootsuite. The one issue I always have with Tweetdeck is the fact that it has to be installed on each computer. Also, if I make changes to my columns, the changes are only fully saved on that particular computer. I still have to tweek the other computers/iphone app I use tweetdeck on.
Does Hootsuite have an iphone app? I bet they do. That’s one of the features I use with Tweetdeck that I don’t know if I’d like to give up.
Thanks for the info, Alexis.
Hootsuite must have an iPhone app — I’m an Android girl, so I’m more familiar with their Android app. I use it daily! Never had a problem.
I briefly flirted with both of those. But now, I just use Twitter.
Once, someone asked me, “What Twitter program do you use?” I said, “Twitter.”
The person was incredulous. “What? Like…what?” I go, “Yeah, Twitter dot com.” Ha!
But I don’t manage multiple accounts.
Also, in tech terms, Tweetdeck is installed on your local client, whereas Hootsuite is in the cloud. 🙂
…What is cloud computing?
http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Will-cloud-computing-transform-IT-1282570.php
Andrea, I thought I was the last person on earth who just uses Twitter. I put HootSuite on my iPhone – so yes, Heather, they have an iPhone app – but at the thought of creating yet another account for something I foundered. I still just use… Twitter.
To clarify: Your post on Tweetdeck versus Hootsuite is emblematic of the cloud computing debate in the tech world!
In the end, you are giving up reliability and speed for universal access.
I haven’t used Tweetdeck, but so far I’m quite happy with Hootsuite. I have a desktop computer at home and a laptop I use for my frequent travel, so I appreciate having my Twitter management online.
Hootsuite, mainly for the web-based thing.
I use both HootSuite and Tweetdeck (particularly, the ChromeDeck version). There’s lots to love about HootSuite, but ChromeDeck’s combined columns and real-time streaming are tremendous features.
My version of this post is here:
http://www.the-newsroom.com/2011/05/hootdeck-would-be-perfect-social-media.html
I remembered this post and came looking for it. These comments are more than a year old….how do you feel now? Do you still use Hootsuite? I’m looking to choose one or the other.
Yes — I still love Hootsuite. And they’ve added a bunch of features since then, too.
Thanks, Lexi. I’m going to sign up right now! I need to organize my social media life!
Hi,
Nice post. Hootsuite is better. But i would also suggest you to have a look at Blog2Social. This is my personal favorite, not only you have a single dashboard which will help you post across platforms but also it requires no cron job done. You just have to simply install and activate it.