With social networking growing by leaps and bounds, it can be difficult to keep track of all of your social media profiles. Keeping an eye on feeds and replies on Twitter can take up a lot of time, especially if you have multiple accounts. Add sites like Facebook and MySpace to the mix, and it quickly becomes overwhelming. Fortunately there are many types of social networking software to help you manage your social media.
TweetDeck
TweetDeck is a versatile desktop application that allows you to manage and update multiple Twitter accounts from one place. You can also keep track of Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, and Foursquare accounts. Multiple columns make it easy to keep track of different accounts, Twitter @ replies, direct messages, and real-time Twitter searches side-by-side. The ability to view YouTube videos and share pictures via a variety of photo sharing sites turns social networking into a multimedia experience. Users on Windows, Mac, and even Linux machines can take advantage of all that TweetDeck has to offer.
Seesmic Desktop
If you need a desktop application with a broad reach, try Seesmic Desktop. Seesmic offers plugin support for 50 services, including a variety of social networks. Aimed at helping both casual users and businesses manage various profiles, Seesmic gives you control over which social networks you want to post to. Update just one, all at once, or only a few without having to visit multiple individual sites. This is especially useful for businesses that are trying to build a solid social media presence. The Seesmic Desktop application is available for both PC and Mac.
Twhirl
The Twhirl application focuses mainly on Twitter, though it does make use of Ping.fm to post updates to other social networking sites. You can search tweets, automatically find @ replies, and follow searched topics in real-time. Useful tools like five URL shortening options and the ability to post pictures to yfrog help you manage and update multiple Twitter accounts,. Since Twhirl has been acquired by Seesmic, you can also use the application to connect to a Seesmic Video account. Like Seesmic Desktop, Twhirl works with both Windows and Mac OS.
Social networking software takes the hassle out of following and managing your social media accounts. By integrating a variety of sites and services, these applications allow you to keep track of followers and friends, share media, shorten links, and update multiple profiles from one location.