Over a year ago, I wrote about Tweetdeck as my preferred desktop application to manage my Twitter account. Shortly after, I was introduced to Mixero, which I tried, didn't understand and summarily dismissed. After a few more months of thinking there just had to be something better, I gave Mixero another try. This time, I watched the video on their Web site to figure out what I missed the previous attempt, and I haven't looked back since.
As a disclaimer, I still use Hootsuite to schedule those Tweets with links to articles and blogs to be spread out over a full day instead of all going at the same time. I also prefer Hootsuite's ht.ly shortener so I can measure clickthroughs, but hate how much desktop real estate it takes up. But for day-to-day ongoing monitoring and management of my Twitter account, Mixero pretty much runs on my laptop 24/7.
Like Tweetdeck, Mixero runs on Adobe Air. Unlike Tweetdeck (and Hootsuite), Mixero gives you much better control over your desktop. While Mixero doesn't have some of the functionality of Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite), it more than makes up for it by making all the functionality most users need simpler, cleaner and taking up less space on your desktop.
The first thing you'll appreciate about Mixero is the way it runs in the background when you're engaged in other tasks. "Avatar mode" takes all the information you need...multiple accounts, groups, and new messages, replies and DMs and puts it in a semi-transparent one inch wide column at the edge of your desktop.
New messages in any groups/lists or channels are notated by means of an orange highlight with the number of new messages displayed. Mentions and Direct Messages also are highlighted, and a simple mouseover shows you the most recent message. Settings allow you to have it play a sound if you want to be notified of new posts, but the colored highlights are enough notice for me (and don't drive my dogs crazy like the sounds do).
Anytime you want to expand a group/list, or see all your mentions or DM's, you simply click on any of the icons, and Mixero expands to a solid mode, but still only takes of section of the desktop. The column contains messages that take up significantly less space than either Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. A column that displays only 5 messages in either of those displays 9-10 in Mixero.
Every expanded column allows you to filter the results by keyword, by users...by clicking on small avatars, all displayed at the top of the column...or both. You can also filter results by whether they contain replies, mark all as read, and display only the unread ones.
Each message contains a user avatar, and if the post is part of a conversation, icons display the other posts in that conversation as a small pop up. If the post itself contains a link to a photo, the photo displays in small pop-up. Other functionality available in each post includes single click reply, reply all, Retweet (classic or Twitter style adjustable in settings), Direct Message, mark as a favorite, translate from a foreign language, block user and report as spam.
Clicking on any person's name displays their time line in a full column, and tabs at the top allow you switch from time line to display of all tweets between you and them, and a profile display (with a notes field so you can add your own info about them). You can easily follow (or unfollow) from the profile view. Adding that person to a fully synchronized Mixero group/Twitter list is as simple as clicking on the list name. Several intuitive hot spots allow you to double click and go directly to the function you'd expect it to on the Twitter.com interface.
Mixero had groups before Twitter had lists, and in recent versions added full synchronization of its groups with Twitter public and private lists. Mixero's handling of groups is just one of several outstanding features that you can access when you expand the right panel. Also included in those options are channels (fully customized searches), followed lists, trending topics, and chats. The "contacts" column shows all your follows, sorted by group, with any ungrouped follows in a separate group a the bottom. Adding follows into a group is simple and you can select or even upload unique avatars for your groups to make them easy to spot when you add them to your main column.
There are a million other features, but the last big difference between Mixero and the others are the detachable, re-sizable columns. If you're the type that doesn't want to manage Twitter via a small column on the edge of your screen, you can choose, detach, drag, re-size and even stack whichever columns you choose to take up as much, or as little space as you want. As you fill your desktop, you'll be amazed at the number and variety of tweets.
Here's a view of my typical full screen (sized at 1440 x 900). Compared with a full screen view of Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, I can't believe that anyone would be content with the comparative lack of visible, manageable Tweets.
As big a fan of Tweetdeck as I was, I've downloaded Tweetdeck updates several times since switching to Mixero, but each time I open it up, I'm immediately struck by just how much better Mixero is. As I mentioned previously, I still use Hootsuite, but if Mixero ever adds scheduled, measurable Tweets, I'll be saying to goodbye to Hootsuite like I did to Tweetdeck.
Mixero still may not be your cup of tea. With a plethora of Twitter tools available, finding one that you're comfortable with may result in a search that also includes Seesmic, PeopleBrowsr, Statuzer and a few others. But you owe it to yourself to at least check out Mixero.
Like the others, Mixero is free and available for download at Mixero.com. Be sure to watch the video (and read their blog) to get a tutorial on all the features.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Snyder is founder, president and CEO of Trivera Interactive, one of the upper Midwest's oldest, and most respected Interactive firms. Tom has been blogging since 1996, sharing the insight gained from helping small to medium sized businesses use digital and Web technology as powerful tools to re-enforce their brands.