Track and filter live event hashtag tweets in 60 seconds

This week’s “Learn in 60 Seconds” video demonstrates how to track multiple event hashtags in real-time and then filter them, also in real-time. The tool is Tweetdeck, which can be downloaded for free. The sample live event I chose for the video is the 2011 Canadian Federal Election, which happens to be taking place as I write this.

Top Twitter Tools & Applications

During one of my last presentations, I noticed some of my participants frantically scribbling notes whenever I would open up my “Twitter Tools” bookmark folder in my browser as if they were some secret collection. These are all in fact, free public tools that I have simply bookmarked over time.

To prevent this scribbling from happening in the future, I figured I should share my list. It’s really nothing more than various Twitter database leveraging tools and applications, each with specific purposes. Some are great, others, not so much. At the end of the day, it depends on what it is that you are trying to do. I also have most of these on my public Twitter links page via Delicious, for those of you not into static lists.

• Twitter Search – Basic search tool. Try the “advanced” feature.
• TwitScoop – Real-time tag cloud of all tweets.
• My Tweeple – Follower management tool.
• We Follow – Self categorization of Twitter users. Great tool for finding niche audiences.
• Tweet Reach – Quick stat tool for gauging the effectiveness of specific tweets.
• Trendsmap – Real-time tag cloud of all tweets layered onto an interactive world map.

New season, new tools, new updates…

I’m back from a perfect honeymoon in Maui and ready to roll as usual, with the only difference being that I am now writing officially as a married man. Feels nice.

One thing I noticed upon my return was the amount of changes to my everyday social media tools of choice. Leaving the online space for two weeks feels like a year when you’re used to everyday engagement. Here are a few popular tools and apps that have recently been updated (plus three new ones). Be sure to get the latest version(s) if you haven’t already.

• Tweetdeck: New Tweetdeck Directory and ability to drag and drop links into your tweets. Also has improved integration with Twitter and MySpace accounts. Still my dashboard of choice for all status updates.
• iTunes: Completely new iTunes Store interface and Podcast directory. No more popularity index. Very useful podcast search engine though. Still quite slow on the PC platform when compared to an equivalent Mac.
• Twitter.com: The main landing page has been updated to reflect Twitter’s most powerful feature, search! Good move. Better late than never.
• Google Wave: The long awaited Google Wave has officially launched (by invitation only at this point). I’m not ready to offer a review at the moment but be sure to request an invite on their website to try it out yourself.
• Google SideWiki: Another tool launched by Google that will grow very quickly in my opinion. Basically it’s a sidebar wiki, which allows users to make comments on any web page. Why do I think this will be popular if many existing plugins already offer this functionality? Hmmm, how about the fact that this one belongs to Google!
• Klout: A great new tool for analyzing and comparing your Twitter stats and level of influence. There is a one time wait of at least 30 minutes for your profile to be analyzed.

Let me know if I missed any big ones.