I was skeptical about the value of Twitter.  It seemed like another flash in the pan or another ‘teeny’ app, like MySpace.  I set up an account a long time ago but didn’t like the web interface and found the whole thing a waste of time.  It was right around the time that Facebook was finding the masses and I found much more value in that.

My how the tables have turned.  Now I try to Tweet at least once a day and only occasionally pay attention to my Facebook.  The difference seems to be that Facebook is social networking for your actual friends while Twitter is for the social network at large.  Chances are good that you haven’t met half of the people you ‘follow’ on Twitter but you likely have met and probably have even talked to most of your ‘friends’ on Facebook.

I’m not saying that I value strangers over my friends, it’s quite the contrary.  It’s mostly a difference in timing.  By and large the information that comes through Facebook is not time sensitive whereas the information flowing through Twitter is as-it-happens.

That brings me to TweekDeck.  As with most things on the Internet I stumbled across TweekDeck when I noticed someone’s status update in Facebook was posted from there.  Noticing the similarity between the names Twitter and TweetDeck I was intrigued.  It didn’t take long before I found out that TweekDeck is a social networking client unlike any other out there (and it’s free).

TweekDeck, first and foremost, manages your Twitter stream.  You can group different followed people, watch custom keywords, separate your direct messaging, and search for people and themes.  I have a very simple layout which involves “People” (real, live people), “Businesses” (businesses like Sears, FutureShop, Dell and EngadgetHD), Direct Messages (these are semi-private Tweets between you and someone else) and Mentions (any time a Tweet has your username in it).  The last column I have is my Facebook feed.  In version 0.30.3 of TweetDeck you can have several different types of Facebook columns but I just have the one, mass jumble of Facebook information.  The icing on the cake is that you can post updates to all of your social networks, at the same time!

Did you hear me?  At the same time.  That means I don’t have to have several browsers open and keep switching between them.  I can just have TweekDeck open and get near real-time updates from Twitter and Facebook and keep everyone updated, all on the same screen.  What has changed recently is that TweetDeck has added some strange kind of super logic into the Facebook posting so that they know when you’re updating your status or posting to your wall.  I’m guessing it has to do with the content but it is amazing.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the different apps you have to manage to keep in the loop, give TweetDeck a try.  It’s also on the iPhone.  Haven’t tried it there yet but hopefully soon. (hint, hint).