If you’re new to Buffer, you’re going to want to download and install Buffer’s browser extension which is available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari, and create a Buffer account. You can then link it with your Twitter accounts to start scheduling retweets (among other things) from your various Twitter users. To schedule a retweet using the Web interface, hit the Buffer button under the tweet you want to share and choose which method of retweet (old or new) you prefer.

Buffer sends out your posts according to a fixed schedule, which is aimed at getting the most eyeballs on your posts as possible, according to time zone. This schedule can be changed manually in Buffer’s dashboard. After scheduling retweets, you can change their set time or delete them from the dashboard as well.

Scheduling a retweet from iOS and Android is a little more complicated, and involves emailing the tweet to Buffer using your secret Buffer email address. This is a unique address you can add to your phone’s contact book for easy access, and use whenever you find a tweet you want to retweet. no matter which app you’re on. Simply email the tweet you want to share to your Buffer address either by using the built-in “email tweet” option available in some apps, or manually.

This will add the retweet to your Buffer schedule automatically, and again, you can head over to your Buffer dashboard to change things around.

Buffer is already available as a built-in option on many services such as Feedly, Instapaper, TweetCaster, Pocket, Reeder, and IFTTT. Hopefully, this retweet option will become easier to use on mobile as Buffer reaches even more apps.

Are you happy to see retweets coming to Buffer?

Source: Buffer Blog

The post Buffer Adds Retweet Scheduling From Web, iOS & Android [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Below are the three main methods that Twitter spammers  use to try and infiltrate the lives of innocent users, and then we look at their most current solutions. All of these are officially suggested by Twitter, so you should know that this is the most efficient way to deal with things as of right now. Are these solutions perfect? Of course not, but they are the best that we have right now.

“Official” Twitter Emails

You’ve likely received email from an address like “email@tvviter.com” before, and the message probably looked exactly like official Twitter correspondence. As obviously fake as it is, it’s a growing problem, but it’s also an issue that has existed across multiple services for a while now. In most cases, it’s a simple phishing attempt to coerce you into typing your information into a fake login page. In others, it could lead to even more headache-inducing situations.

If you ever get in a situation such as this, just forward the email to spoof@twitter.com. After that, delete the email from your inbox, and do not download any attachments. Twitter should eventually be able to take care of it.

Peculiar DMs From Friends

It may be just me, but I’ve always thought direct messages (DMs) are one of Twitter’s lesser-used features. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t use it, and neither do my friends. That’s one reason that I always find it to be very strange if I receive a DM from someone. I’m even more on my guard if the message contains a link to a site that I don’t know about.

If you receive an odd DM from a friend or one that is obviously spammy, do your buddy a favor and let them know that they have been hijacked. Also, remind them that this could have been a result of them giving access to their account to a bad app. A little research on all of their apps could go a long way, and a simple password change could help as well.

Tweets From People You Don’t Know

Ever gotten a Tweet from someone that you absolutely do not know? Yep, it happens. If you check the user’s profile and see that it is plastered with similar-looking Tweets and each one contains a link to an unknown website, there’s a 99% chance it’s a spammer. These links will likely take you to malicious material or yet another phishing attempt, so do yourself a favor and don’t click them.

You can easily report and stop Twitter spammers by visiting their profile, clicking the person icon, and then selecting report @username for spam. It’s needless to say, please use this feature responsibly, so don’t report someone just because you don’t like them. This will send a Bat-signal to Twitter’s caped crusaders, and in the meantime, the user will not be able to follow or reply to you. It doesn’t mean that there will be an immediate suspension, but at least you won’t have to deal with them.

Conclusion

Above are the three main methods of Twitter’s notorious spammers, and yes, it seems like we are just going to have to deal with them for now. A while back I wrote about some possible methods that Twitter could use to fight spammers, but alas, they haven’t used any of them. (I would expect some compensation if they did, though.)

If you’d like to target spammers, TidyTweet is a service that sifts through your followers and finds out which ones are known for spam, and it even includes profanity filters as well as integration with WordPress. On the other hand, you could look at StatusPeople which scans for fake accounts or ChumpDump which cleans up your followers in the form of a game.

In the meantime, I guess we’ll just have to cope. Thankfully, there are some basic steps we can follow to create a walled fortress to stay safe and not get hacked on Twitter.

How do you stop Twitter spammers in their tracks? Do you think that there is a better way than what Twitter has already provided?

The post How Should You Deal With Twitter Spammers? appeared first on MakeUseOf.

There are simple steps you can take to protect yourself online. Using a firewall and antivirus software, creating secure passwords, not leaving your devices unattended; these are all absolute musts. Beyond that it comes down to keeping up with the latest news about spam, scams, phishing attempts, hacks, and malware.

This is where the following list of security experts on Twitter comes into play. They’re all dedicated to delivering updates, news, blog posts, and opinion pieces designed to keep you, the average Web user, informed about the latest online security threats.

AVG Free @AVGFree

Never Mind The Kids – Watch out for the Sexting Boomers! avgclick.me/12TNgMd #freeantivirus

— AVGFree (@AVGFree) May 1, 2013

This is the official Twitter account for AVG Free, a high-ranking piece of antivirus software that is free to download and available for Windows. The feed links to highlighted posts from AVG blogs, which includes regular updates regarding current threats.

Eugene Kaspersky @e_kaspersky

Dutch police would be able to hack into computers, install spyware, read emails and destroy files bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…

— Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) May 3, 2013

This is the Twitter account of Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and Chairman of the Kaspersky Lab, the developer of various security products, including Kaspersky Internet Security. Eugene is considered an expert in the field, and his Twitter feed is full of links to security news from around the world, sometimes with added commentary.

Avast! Antivirus @avast_antivirus

E! Online Twitterhackers claim Justin Bieber is Gay. Teenage girls cry with disbelief.sbks.co/pmldg4/ @eonline has been fixed.

— avast! Antivirus (@avast_antivirus) May 7, 2013

This is the official Twitter account for Avast!, an award-winning and immensely popular piece of antivirus software that is completely free and available on Windows from XP all the way up to Windows 8. The feed focuses on the latest security news, as well as updates regarding the Avast! software.

Graham Cluley @gcluley

The Onion is Twitter hacked by Syrian Electronic Army. Hardly anyone notices wp.me/p3qRGV-W3Q

— Graham Cluley (@gcluley) May 6, 2013

This is the Twitter account of Graham Cluley, the editor of Naked Security at Sophos, a company responsible for a mix of free and paid security software. Naked Security is the newsroom at Sophos, delivering updates and advice on the latest happenings. Cluley also tweets other security-related links.

McAfee Inc. @McAfee

Heard about the @ap Twitter account hack? @garyjdavis shares the phony news and tips to keep your account secure: bit.ly/13d8jdD

— McAfee Inc. (@McAfee) May 6, 2013

This is the official Twitter account for McAfee Security, a company dedicated to security solutions for computer users, both on a personal level and in the business world. The feed focuses on up-to-date security news, as well as updates directly related to McAfee products.

Mikko Hypponen @mikko

Play a game of Asteroids and disclose a list of websites you’ve visited:lcamtuf.blogspot.it/2013/05/some-h…Nice idea and a proof-of-concept by @lcamtuf

— Mikko Hypponen ? (@mikko) May 5, 2013

This is the Twitter account of Mikko Hypponen, the Chief Research Officer for F-Secure, a computer security company based in Finland. F-Secure offers a huge range of security products and services, and Hypponen has worked for the firm since 1991. His tweets flit between addressing security issues and personal news.

Symantec @symantec

Join Symantec & small business expert Rieva Lesonsky to learn how to protect and secure your business’s valuable data bit.ly/ZGGnxw

— Symantec (@symantec) May 2, 2013

This is the official Twitter account for Symantec, a company with a full complement of products designed to protect individual users and businesses when they connect to the Internet. The feed keeps followers updated on the latest happenings in the world of online security, as well as news related to Symantec products.

Jeremiah Grossman @jeremiahg

During 2012, 86% of all websites tested had at least 1 serious* vuln. serious = vulns leading to system breach, data loss. #WebsiteVulnStats

— Jeremiah Grossman (@jeremiahg) May 2, 2013

This is the Twitter account of Jeremiah Grossman, who is the Founder & CTO of WhiteHat Security, an Internet security expert, and public speaker on the subject. He tweets links to news updates about security issues, and personal views on the things happening in this space.

SANS ISC @sans_isc

[Diary] Report Fake Tech Support Calls submission form reminder, (Mon, Apr 29th): Previously we det… bit.ly/14JGsor #sansisc

— SANS ISC (@sans_isc) April 29, 2013

This is the official Twitter account for SANS ISC, which is the Internet Storm Center at the SANS Institute. Their job is to monitor the levels of malicious activity taking place on the InterWebs, and the feed links to the daily updates reporting on these levels as well as other news we should all be aware of.

Schneier Blog @schneierblog

Honeywords: Here is a simple but clever idea. Seed password files with dummy entries that will trigger an alar… bit.ly/18M4a00

— Schneier Blog (@schneierblog) May 6, 2013

This is the Twitter account of Bruce Schneier, an Internet security guru who has written several bestselling books on the subject. This feed auto-posts all of the blog content written by Schneier, which, as a whole, gives a detailed overview of the security issues the world faces.

Conclusions

My advice to those of you on Twitter — and you really should be using Twitter by now — is to follow these 10 accounts immediately and to start paying attention to what they’re tweeting. The trends, tips, and tricks they report could save you from suffering a security nightmare in the future, or help you recover from one you have already suffered.

Are there any other Twitter users you’d recommend everybody followed in order to keep on top of online security threats? Do you find any of those on this list particularly useful? What do you think of the need to stay secure online overall? Are the threats overplayed or is it a problem that is only going to get worse?

As always we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credit: Surian Soosay

The post Stay Safe Online: Follow 10 Computer Security Experts On Twitter appeared first on MakeUseOf.

If you’re the kind of person who prefers to leave things in the browser, certain Chrome Twitter extensions can help you get all sorts of fun and useful Twitter features without having to resort to out-of-the-browser clients. Whether you’re looking to save time when sharing webpages, save brain cells when reading your stream, or retweet the good old way from Twitter’s native interface, there are ways to do so without leaving your browser. Try the Chrome Twitter extensions below to find out!

PowerInbox

PowerInbox is a browser extension available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE, which takes your regular Twitter emails and makes them much more useful by turning them interactive. In fact, PowerInbox does its trick with many additional services besides Twitter, including Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Spotify, Pinterest, and others.

Focusing on Twitter, PowerInbox makes it so you can actually make use of those pesky email updates you keep getting from Twitter, such as “you have a new follower” or “Bla and BlaBla have tweets for you”. After installing the add-on and signing into your Twitter account, emails from Twitter will start looking something like this:

As you can see, instead of getting a simple alert you can’t do much with, PowerInbox makes it so you can follow users from within the email, send tweets, and in other emails also view your stream, reply, retweet, and favorite tweets.

PowerInbox has an on/off button on top of every supported email, so if you don’t feel like viewing interactive content, you can simply turn it off and turn it back on when you’re ready for more.

Tareem Extender

Tareem Extender takes your good old Twitter interface, and powers it up with some new and useful features. While I couldn’t get every single feature listed to work, the extension still adds a considerable amount of them. Starting with features that actually work, Tareem Extender adds an old retweet button to every tweet, as well as a DM button and a quick translate button to translate tweets from English into dozens of languages.

You can also set the extension to highlight your mentions in the stream, and to show desktop notifications for your Twitter mentions.

So what didn’t work? Tareem Extender claims to include a built-in link shortener, which I couldn’t get to work, as well as a “speak to tweet” feature which was no where to be found. Considering Twitter’s ever changing API and interface, I’m assuming some features just stopped working over time, but where it counts, Tareem Extender provides the means to use Twitter’s native interface to much better results.

Tweet This Page

Most blogs and websites include a tweet button of some kind, but these are located in a different spot on every page, and might even look different from website to website. In addition, most of these buttons are just extensions of the twitter.com webpage, and as such don’t let you use your personal link shortener. Tweet This Page can change that.

Tweet This Page is a simple Chrome Twitter extension that makes it super easy to tweet a link to any page you’re on. Want to share a link on Twitter? Click the new Twitter button on the right side of Chrome’s address bar to create the tweet. You can set Tweet This Page to use your personal bit.ly account and to automatically use selected text as the tweet body, making it possible to click and tweet in seconds.

Silver Bird

Silver Bird is a fully-fledged Twitter client built into a Chrome extension. Behind a colorful bird icon hides a simple interface that nonetheless includes pretty much anything you could wish for in a Twitter client. And what’s more, it’s all completely customizable.

From the icon’s color at any given moment, to the interface’s font and color, to the compose area’s position, Silver Bird is like a mold you can shape as your own. With its built-in pop-up notifications, built-in link shortener, its ability to add images to tweets and its handy suspend option for when you really need to concentrate, you may never need to venture into twitter.com again.

Read a full review of Silver Bird.

Larry Filter for Twitter

Twitter too noisy? Larry Filter can make it a quieter place with the help of some well-placed filters. This handy extension lets you set keywords and hashtags you’re not interested in, and either hide them completely, or increase opacity on tweets that include them.

While this is not the only way to filter tweets, I love Larry Filter for its simplicity, and for its ability to only half hide the culprit tweets. This way, I can make sure I’m not missing anything important, and still have a quieter Twitter feed. It’s like having my cake and eating it too!

For more ways to filter tweets and make Twitter a generally quieter place, check out these ways to filter annoyances on Twitter, and some additional ways to help you swim and not drown in your Twitter stream.

More?

As always, we’d also love to hear some of your recommendations. Are there any Chrome twitter extension you find invaluable? What makes your Twitter life easier? Share your favorites in the comments.

The post 5 Chrome Extensions To Superpower Twitter appeared first on MakeUseOf.

These type of iPhone communication apps include Triage for quickly checking emails, Pastie for pasting quick snippets to text, Swipy for quickly emailing myself, Reach Fast for quickly locating contacts, and Scraps for quickly writing notes and saving or exporting them somewhere else. I have covered similar apps for using your iPhone while driving, but these are apps for anytime, and anywhere, including in and beyond the car.

Triage ($1.99)

I’ve written about novel mail client apps for the iPhone, including Mailbox and Mail Pilot, but when I want to cut through my emails like slicing up an apple, I launch Triage. Like the other apps below, Triage has a simple swipe up and down feature for archiving or keeping individual emails, delivered to you in a stack.

That’s it. That’s all it does. Swipe down to keep a message in your inbox, or swipe up to remove it. You can also of course, reply to selected messages. Triage is compatible with Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, iCloud Mail accounts, and most email services that support IMAP.

Swipy ($0.99)

Unfortunately in order to get messages off our iPhones many of us still email ourselves. This is where Swipy comes in. It allows you to write notes on virtual scraps of paper, swipe the page to the right, and the app will send the note to your designated email or Dropbox account. There’s no tapping, selecting folders, or even responding to an annoying pop-up.

Swipy also allows you to attach a photo, and it’s compatible with popular services like Evernote, Remember the Milk, and the iOS version of TextExpander.

Scraps for iPhone ($0.99)

Scraps is similar to Swipy , but it conveniently saves all your scrap notes in a list and folders. There are plenty of notes apps with similar features to Scraps, but this app is just for writing a quick note that probably would not go into your Apple Notes, Evernote or Sprinpgad notebook. I’ve also reviewed five other alternative notes apps for iOS devices that you might be interested in.

Notes can be password-protected, managed in folders, copied to the clipboard or exported to Mail, Messages, or Twitter. The app includes iCloud integration for syncing notes between iOS devices.

Fliite ($0.99)

Fliite is a Twitter client that is not so much fast as it is convenient. Even though you may already have a favorite Twitter app on your iPhone with all the bells and whistles, Fliite does one simple thing well: it allows you to send a tweet to a group of selected Twitter contacts.

You don’t have to write the contacts’ names, just select their icon from your Twitter list and your tweet is ready for sending.

Pastie ($0.99)

I use Pastie (there’s also a free lite version) for quickly pasting snippets of text to designated family members and a few select friends. For example, when I pick up my daughter or when I’m running late, I can choose the snippet, “I’m here,” or “5 minutes away,” both of which are set up to message my daughter directly. I have similar snippets for my wife.

If I need to message someone directions to my house, I have a Pastie snippet to do just that. I also have snippets for written responses to phone calls, such as ”I’m in a meeting. Will call you back.” Of course, in the latest version of iOS 6 for the iPhone, you can create similar voicemail snippets.

Reach Fast Contacts (Free)

There’s something about Apple’s default Contacts app that has always felt a little slow and cumbersome. Though I’ve tolerated all the tapping that needs to be done to locate a contact, a recently developed app called Reach Fast does what its name says. It incorporates the handy swiping features of the iPhone so you can quickly search, locate, call, and add contacts on your iPhone.

Instead of scrolling down and tapping to send a message to a contact as you do in Apple’s Contacts app, simply swipe left on a name and up pops the message window. If you want to make a quick call, simply tap on the name. There is also an optional feature to confirm calls before they are made.

You can arrange the contacts list by first or last name, or chronologically. It also lists your Favorites and most recently called contacts, inline. I especially like that you can view the photo icon of each of your contacts inline as well for faster searching. And finally, when you want to add a new contact (see the above screenshot), simply tap on the plus “+” button and type in the info. Other nimble features include Swiping left or right on the number keys to move between text and number fields. It’s these kinds of quick features that have caused me to move Reach Fast to the first Home Screen on my iPhone, and put Apple’s Contacts app in a folder of least used apps.

That’s it for this round of quick notes. There are several more iPhone communication apps out there, so let us know a few of your favorites as well as what you think of this list in the comments, below.

The post 6 iPhone Communication Apps to Write Notes, Message and Tweet Faster [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Also included in the update are a set of new icons and support for 14 new languages. The new version is already live in the Mac App Store and finally looks the part on Apple’s latest line of MacBook Pros with Retina displays. The update comes only a month after Twitter brought its TweetDeck app for Mac and Windows into line with the popular Web version.

Here is what the app looks like now, compared to the previous, 2-years-old version:

The update might seem barely noticeable, but makes a world of difference on a Retina display, finally replacing blurry text with crisp Retina font rendering. Unfortunately, Twitter has still not implemented support for Mountain Lion’s Notification Center, a feature which itself includes a Tweet button once paired with a Twitter account.

The New Tweet box, where you can compose new tweets, can be opened multiple times and also includes a dedicated button for attaching images, rather than the drag and drop approach it previously used.

The update is very much welcome and is hopefully indicative of Twitter’s intentions to better maintain its official clients, particularly since introducing API limits for third-party applications which have hindered app development on all operating systems.

Download: Twitter for Mac @ Mac App Store

Do you use Twitter for Mac or does the website suffice?

Source: Twitter Blog

The post Twitter’s Official Mac Client Gets Its First Update Since 2011 [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

That’s when I even bothered launching it. As a Windows Phone user, I naturally default to the easier native Twitter functionality available in the People Hub when I just need to see what’s going on.

However, I was made aware of a new app, Rowi, which has been attracting great reviews. It seemed sensible to check it out and compare with what I was already using. Initially I was skeptical  After all, even if the native Twitter integration on Windows Phone wasn’t meeting my needs, I could still use the third party app, which has recently had a visual overhaul to bring it into line with the Android and iOS versions

What exactly could Rowi bring to the table?

What Features Does Rowi Offer?

In terms of features, Rowi probably outflanks the majority of Twitter apps on any platform, and certainly all of those on Windows Phone.

Tweets can be sent from multiple accounts, and photos, retweets, direct messages and hashtags are all supported. For those that like to share, e-mail and SMS text options are available, while you can also save tweets to read later with Readability, Instapaper and Pocket.

Interacting with other tweets is easy thanks to a horizontally scrolling context menu offering view, retweet, favorite, profile and other options.

Location can also be displayed in your tweets, while Bing translate is provided for you to read anything posted in a foreign language. You can also reorganize the app’s home screen by sorting the order of the main views as well as adding custom Twitter searches/filters.

How Easy Is It to Tweet?

The most important feature of any Twitter app is the ability to send a tweet. Users want this function to be easy and efficient – hardly a surprise!

With Rowi, the process is a case of tapping the + symbol to create a new tweet, entering your update and then either tapping the send button (a bird, naturally) or first adding a photo before sending. This part of the process is pretty quick, but unfortunately the app itself can tend to lag, depending on the speed of your connection.

So, tweeting is simple, and thanks to the clear, well-organized user interface, the app is generally easy to use. Your profile can be viewed and new accounts added by tap-and-holding the top-left area of the display, although for the latter you will need to go through the Twitter authentication process.

Push Notifications and Creating a Custom Filter

With Rowi you can instruct the software to send notifications to your Windows Phone Start screen whenever you receive a mention or direct message in Twitter. This is particularly useful, with the results displayed on a live tile positioned in the preferred portion of your Start screen or across the top of the screen. This function can be activated by opening the menu up on the standard Twitter view and select Notifications. From here, select whether you want mentions and messages to display as a live tile or toast (so-called because the notice “pops up”).

If you want to use the live tile option, head back to the Windows Phone apps list and tap-and-hold the Rowi tile, where you should tap Pin to Start. The tile can be sized either as 4×2, 2×2 or a 1×1 item, with the largest displaying the most information.

Meanwhile, the same menu opens access to the Configure home screen tool, where the Timeline, Mentions and Messages screens can be reordered or deleted by tapping. Most importantly, via the + symbol you can create a Twitter filter, prompting the app to search for topics you’re interested in and add the results as a new screen.

Is Rowi the Windows Phone Twitter App for You?

Head to the Windows Phone Store to find out more about and purchase Rowi for $1.49 (£1.29). Note that there is a free version, Rowi [Lite], which offers all of the same features but also includes ads and removes push notifications.

As to whether you should buy it or use the free version – well, it’s up to you, but I would certainly recommend this app as a hugely functional replacement for any other that you might be using on Windows Phone.

It does everything you might expect of a desktop app, plus a bit more, and you would be selling yourself short if you didn’t at least try the free version. For more social networking apps for Windows Phone, see our Best Windows Phone Apps list.

The post Is Rowi The Best Twitter App For Windows Phone? appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The release comes as little surprise following speculation and leaks about the discovery platform that have seeped out over the last month. The service is already live on the Web for users in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, who can access #music by pointing their browser to music.twitter.com or by downloading the free Twitter #music iPhone app from the App Store.

playing with this new @twittermusic service. this is going to be really cool for music discovery when it’s released

— ??E G????? MØB (@theglitchmob) April 12, 2013

Just like Vine, #music uses existing Twitter accounts so there’s no lengthy registration process. Once authorized, #music looks for artists you are already following which appear in the Me section, while recommendations based on these tastes appear under Suggested. Two other tabs, Popular and Emerging, list currently trending artists as well as “hidden” talent currently being Tweeted about.

I tested the app with Spotify and once paired with the iPhone app, it is able to play music completely within the app. The browser version, however, still requires the Spotify desktop player to be open on your local machine as there is not yet a Web version. The grid-based layout is sharp and quite pleasing visually, and previews load virtually instantly.

Twitter has announced plans to introduce the service to more countries “over time”, and also plans to launch an Android app. Look out for a detailed look at the new service here on MakeUseOf very soon.

View/Download: Twitter #music / Twitter #music for iPhone

Have you tried Twitter #music? What did you think?

Source: Twitter Blog

The post Twitter Launches #music, A Music-Discovery Platform With Spotify & Rdio Integration [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The Trends feature analyzes incoming Tweets to work out what people are talking about on a global, national and local scale. Newly added countries include Belgium, Greece, Kenya, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Ukraine; however, Twitter hasn’t released its list of newly supported locations in full.

Logged-in users of the service can choose a location to monitor for trending topics and opt-out of location and interest-based tailored trends by clicking the Change button in the Trends box on the Twitter homepage. After selecting a country, you can refine your selection by choosing a major city or by selecting Worldwide to see what the global micro-blogging population is currently talking about.

Twitter uses an algorithm which monitors who you follow and where you are located in order to provide tailored trends, which include promoted items. This is the first major update to Twitter Trends since the company added over 100 new cities in December 2012.

Do you use Twitter Trends? Has your location recently been updated, or are you still waiting for Twitter to add your local area?

Source: Twitter Blog

The post Twitter Brings Trends To Over 160 New Locations [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The update adds support for Twitter cards, letting you expand your tweets to view photo galleries, apps, and even product listings. If the content comes from another social network, such as Foursquare, the app provides a relevant link below the content, letting you open it from the network’s native app, if you have it  installed. Else, Twitter will prompt you to install the relevant app (e.g. Foursquare, Path, Flickr, etc.).

The updated app also gives you auto-suggestions for both search and tweeting — begin to type and Twitter will suggest usernames or hashtags as you go.

Also updated are Twitter for iPhone and mobile.twitter.com, and all now have the ability to show expanded tweets for photos, apps, etc. Its 140 characters limit notwithstanding, Twitter is trying to make it easier to reach more content on all its platforms. These changes to the mobile apps should give the tweets some extra ‘edge’, the goes beyond regular text.

Download the latest version of Twitter from Google Play.

How do you like the Twitter experience on your Android now?

Source: Twitter Blog

The post Twitter Revamps Its Android App Making Content Even Easier To Reach [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

There’s an official Twitter client for iOS and Android, and it’s always getting updates. There’s even a (neglected) Twitter app for Mac. Until recently, however, Windows users have been without an official Twitter client for their platform (Tweetdeck aside, of course). That’s changed now – but only for Windows 8 users. If you’ve been looking for a desktop Twitter client, and like the Metro style, it’s time to check out the official Twitter app for Windows.

Despite Microsoft policy, I refuse to call Windows 8 apps “Modern” because it implies desktop apps are somehow outdated. They’re not.

Twitter Client For Windows 8: A Tour

Fire up Twitter for Windows 8 and you’ll need to sign in. Once you do, you’ll be presented with your timeline:

Scroll down using your mouse, touch or the up and down arrows on your keyboard – there’s nothing unusual about that. It’s a shame links can’t be opened by pressing left – that’s my favorite feature in the Mac version – but perhaps that’s coming later.

On the left you’ll see the four main buttons Twitter offers on its site. “Connect” is one of my favorite features here, showing you the various ways others are interacting with you online.

I prefer seeing “Connect” – which includes new follows, retweets, favorites and “@” messages – to just “@” messages, so this is very nice compared to similar clients. Here’s the confusing bit though – the Twitter app for Mac doesn’t offer “Connect“, instead just showing the “@” messages. Why is this inconsistent? Why are some great features from one official client not on the other? And why does it happen both ways?

Another nice feature – click any link and you’ll be taken to the story using an embedded browser. This is a great way to explore your timeline in context.

Search is among Twitter’s best features – it’s a great way to keep up with the latest in a variety of topics. The search interface in Twitter’s Windows 8 app is about what you’d expect, offering you your favorite searches and allowing you to look for whatever:

Notably, if you search for a person, you can check out their complete profile – graphics and all. It’s a nice touch, and one overlooked by most desktop clients (for various reasons, including API restrictions).

Finally, there’s “Discover“. This tab lets you see more of what the people you follow are up to, and otherwise points out content Twitter thinks you’ll find interesting. Check this out if the timeline isn’t enough to keep you distracted (unlikely, I realize, but it could happen).

There’s not a lot to configure in this app – for the most part it’s pretty simple. You can configure some things, however, mostly in relation to the notifications. Here are those settings, in case you’re curious:

The live tile is also a nice touch, allowing you to see who is reaching out to you on Twitter at a glance. You can disable it if you find this distracting, of course.

That’s pretty much the entire app – it’s not terribly complicated, as you can tell. It’s a straightforward translation of Twitter’s web experience for the Metro interface.

Conclusion

Whatever you think about Windows 8, you have to admit one thing: turning the world’s most used operating system into a platform with its own app store is encouraging people to create apps that didn’t exist on Windows previously. Reddit To Go, for example, brings a Reddit client to Windows – and there are several apps like it in the Microsoft Store.

Are you a fan of apps like this, or do you prefer using the web version of sites like Twitter? Please let me know in the comments below, or make unnecessary comments about how stupid social media services are, all while failing to realize the irony of using an online comments section to make such a statement.

The post Check Out The New, Official Twitter Client For Windows 8 appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Twitter was originally an internal service for employees of Odeo but entered into the public domain in July 2006. By 2007 early adopters and tech bloggers had started to use Twitter, and the service has grown every year since then. In 2009 it benefited from the Oprah Effect, hitting the mainstream in a big, bad way. Those who are interested can read Twitter’s full origin story.

However, despite now boasting more than 200 million active users Twitter is lagging a long way behind Facebook and its userbase of 1 billion-plus. Those who haven’t yet succumbed to the lure of Twitter seem unlikely to ever do so, and they’re missing out on an exciting and intoxicating experience. Which is a crying shame.

What follows are seven reasons why you should be using Twitter, the ‘seven’ representing the number of years Twitter has been around for. Even if you have so far rejected the social network either out of ignorance or a lack of desire, I urge you to read on and at least consider giving it a go.

Interesting People

We all want to surround ourselves with interesting people, don’t we? Sadly not all of us get the chance to do that in the real world. You’re tied to your family by blood, and while other people are your friends for a reason (meaning you should get on with them extremely well) that doesn’t mean they’ll have anything particularly interesting to say.

Twitter is meant not for friends and family but for people you actually want to communicate with. You can follow anyone and anyone can follow you. There’s none of the mutual agreeing to be friends required by Facebook, so if you want to follow 500 complete strangers then that’s your right. If none follow you back then it doesn’t matter a jot.

TL;DR: Twitter is full of people with things to say, and you can listen.

Breaking News

Twitter has proved its worth in recent years as a platform for breaking news. The simplicity of the site means that the first think many people at the scene of a developing news story do is to tweet about it. A few retweets later and the news has spread. This has led to Twitter beating traditional news outlets to a story on many occasions.

Even if you don’t want to actively tweet yourself, you can use Twitter as a source for breaking news. By following news aggregators, rolling news channels, and journalists, you can get the inside scoop of a story long before it hits the mainstream news outlets.

TL;DR: Who needs newspapers when Twitter usually beats them?

Tracking Trends

As well as breaking news Twitter is a fine resource for tracking online trends. If a YouTube video is going viral then it will be getting shared on Twitter. If a new meme is spreading like wildfire then it will appear on Twitter. If a celebrity has done something newsworthy but has managed to avoid the news leaking to the mainstream press it will likely appear on Twitter.

Hashtags also figure into this, and most of the Trends listed on Twitter use this simple method of assigning a particular subject to a tweet. You can tailor Twitter trends to suit you, switching from ‘Worldwide’ to those emerging from a particular country.

TL;DR: Trending hashtags can tune you into the zeitgeist.

Company Contact

Companies love Twitter. Your favorite brand is highly likely to have a presence on the site, whatever product they sell or service they provide. Twitter is a great tool for brands to promote themselves and their products, but they are unable to push their wares onto consumers without consumers pushing back.

Twitter represents one of the quickest and easiest ways to contact a company to get instant customer service. The response you receive may not be as fine-tuned as you would get by speaking to a person on the phone, but at least you won’t be kept on hold for hours before you get that attention.

TL;DR: Get a quick response by embarrassing a brand on Twitter.

Celebrity Access

Celebrities love Twitter too. While not every famous person is present on the site, a high percentage are. The celebrities get another platform to promote themselves and their latest film/television show/book/perfume, and in return their fans gain a new way of accessing their heroes.

While those who are really keen on certain famous people have always found ways to talk to them, Twitter makes it very simple indeed. If a celebrity is on Twitter then anyone else on Twitter can send a message to them. They may even respond. Indeed, I’ve communicated with several celebrities on Twitter in this way.

TL;DR: Tweeting a celebrity beats stalking them.

Creative Outlet

Most of the entries so far have outlined reasons to follow other Twitter users, such as girl geeks and popular scientists. But you can easily turn this on its head by instead creating a Twitter presence that others want to follow. You’re only limited by your creativity.

You can start a Twitter account about anything, as long as you abide by the rules set forth by the company. You may want to parody a famous person, write short poetry, recount witty anecdotes, or tell lame jokes. Twitter gives you a certain sense of anonymity to plumb the depths of your creativity.

TL;DR: Be imaginative with themed tweets.

140 Characters

If you’re anything like me you have a short attention span. You can read novels, in-depth features, and articles several thousand words long, but there are times when you’d rather not have to. This lack of attention span is why TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) became so popular, and it has also certainly helped foster the popularity of Twitter.

You only have 140 characters to say what you want to say in a tweet (excluding URLs). This means people are forced to get to the point quickly, paring the facts down to their core essence. Sure, there may be a link to a longer news story, but it’s surprising how much information you can consume purely from reading tweets.

TL;DR: 140 characters makes TL;DR redundant.

Conclusions

If you’re already a fan of Twitter then do you think this list sums up the best reasons others should try the site for themselves? Is there another, perhaps better, reason why? If you’re not on Twitter yet has this article made you consider signing up to see if it’s for you? If not, why not? What is the one thing holding you back?

Anyone who signs up to Twitter as a direct result of this article is guaranteed at least one follower… me. If you join Twitter just tweet me at @DavePee telling me as much and I’ll follow you… though I reserve the right to unfollow or block you at a later date for any reason whatsoever.

Image Credits: Ed Yourdon, Michael Beck, Michael Coghlan, Brett Jordan, Frank am Main, Denise Krebs, Maryland GovPics

The post 7 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Twitter appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Vizible is the new, younger sibling to Twizgrid, and it actually doesn’t do much that Twizgrid can’t do. If, however, you’re not interested in all the features Twizgrid has to offer, and only care about finding Twitter pictures around your current location, Vizible can be loads of fun. With Vizible, you can instantly see every photo that’s been uploaded to Twitter around your current location, get a feel for new places, or see what people are doing around you.

Vizible, like Twizgrid, is completely free. If you like images, Twitter, and gorgeous apps, this one is for you.

Vizible As An Image Browser

Before you can start using Vizible at all, you’ll have to connect it to your Twitter account. Vizible connects to accounts already configured on your iOS device, and lets you choose which one you want to connect the app to (if you have more than one).

That’s pretty much all the set up you’re going to have to do. Once that’s done, Vizible will ask for permission to use your current location, and you’ll be on your way. Unlike Twizgrid, you can’t choose any location you’d like – Vizible is only about things happening around you, and will only show pictures that have been taken or uploaded nearby.

Naturally, the results depend on where you live, but on my first time with Vizible, all I managed to get was this disappointing screen:

This did not change no matter what I did, and I was just about to give up on the app, when I remembered something I encountered on Twizgrid. I recalled that the older sibling asked for Safe Search to be turned off in order to conduct certain location-based searches, and while Vizible made no such request, I went ahead and disabled it from the settings.

Upon hitting the refresh button, the magic finally happened, and Vizible showed me what was happening around me. I was still surprised to note, however, that the results I was getting through Vizible were very different from the ones I was getting using the “Around me” setting on Twizgrid. According to one of the co-founders, this is due to more image hosting services being included on Vizible, and increased control over radius.

Below you can see Vizible’s results on the left and Twizgrid’s results on the right. To start, Vizible kept presenting the same images over and over again, probably because many people retweeted them. There was no such issue on Twizgrid. In addition, the images presented by Twizgrid seemed much more relevant, although most of the images presented by both apps seemed to indeed be local ones. The app’s developers assure me that the duplicate photo issue is being taken care of, and you may not encounter it if you try the app right now.

If you want to control the results somewhat, you can change the radius Vizible is looking at. Tap the location button, and use the slider to set your preferred radius. The options are limited to 1, 2, 5, 10 or 25 miles. This is different from Twizgrid, which does not let you control the radius in the “Around me” search option, but is much more flexible when setting a location manually, lets you set a radius of up to 500 miles, and also supports kilometers.

You can browse the results through the grid view, or tap an image to switch to single-image view. Each image comes with all its accompanying Twitter information, and includes reply, retweet, and favorite options, as well as a timestamp for the tweet. Additional options such as quoting, copying or copying tweet link are also available. You can tap on a user to view their Twitter profile and a list of recent tweets, and can even follow and unfollow users through the app.

It’s nice to note that Vizible never exposes the exact location a picture was taken in. You know the image is from somewhere nearby, but you’re not invading anyone’s privacy, and it’s easier to protect your own.

Vizible As A (Limited) Twitter Client

Unlike Twizgrid, Vizible cannot replace your regular Twitter client – it’s only meant as a casual image browser. Nevertheless, it does include some handy Twitter features which you can use to post images or just plain tweets to Twitter.

As mentioned above, you can use the app to reply to, retweet or quote other tweets, but you can also compose new tweets from scratch by tapping the compose button. From here, you can tweet an image by taking it using your device or by choosing one from your photo album, or tweet a regular text tweet.

The compose option comes with some pretty useful features, but is missing some others. For example, when you start typing a username, Vizible will automatically load a list of users you follow which makes it easy to find the one you’re trying to mention. On the other hand, the app doesn’t come with a link shortener, so links are truncated according to the tweet’s length. You can also add your location to the tweet, which will make it pop up for other Vizible users.

Bottom Line

So how does Vizible fare compared to Twizgrid? For most users, I still recommend getting Twizgrid. It’s an awesome app, and comes packed with fun and useful features. Vizible is basically one Twizgrid feature made into an app, but if that’s your favorite feature, Vizible is definitely worth getting, and may even inspire you to start sharing images through Twitter. Need more help with that? Check out these 7 Twitter photo sharing tips to spread your photographic masterpieces.

Is Twitter a worthy place to share photos? Do you find use for a location-based image browser that’s based on Twitter? What do you think of Vizible? Share your opinions in the comments!

The post Who Needs Instagram? View Nearby Twitter Images With Vizible [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

To access the new features, Mac users must be running the latest version which is already available from the Mac App Store. Column and user filters, as well as custom alerts, can then be accessed by clicking the Edit button at the top of a column and choosing to search by tweets or filter by media type.

Other updates include an optional wide column setting and larger font sizing, both of which can be toggled in the Settings menu. You can also hit spacebar to scroll down the page and use the OS X system-wide shortcut Cmd+W to close the current Tweetdeck window, rather than quitting the app (for that, use Cmd+Q).

The update comes as a relief for some who have watched Twitter neglect TweetDeck’s other versions, in particular the iOS and Android apps which will be pulled completely from their respective app stores this coming May. Development on TweetDeck’s Adobe AIR version will also be suspended at the same time, though the Web app still regularly receives new features and fixes.

The update to TweetDeck for Mac makes it Twitter’s most up-to-date desktop application, as the official Twitter app for OS X has not been updated since June 2011. The Windows version of TweetDeck is also still being supported by the company and can be downloaded from the TweetDeck homepage.

What do you think of TweetDeck? Does this update help or are you not impressed?

Source: TweetDeck on the Mac App Store

The post TweetDeck for Mac Updates With Column Filters & Advanced Search [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Beyond that there are other social networks with more of a niche intention. LinkedIn for building business contacts, Pinterest for sharing images of things that interest you, MySpace for people who like Justin Timberlake (I think!?). The question is which social network is your particular poison of choice?

This Week’s Question…

We want to know, What Is Your Favorite Social Network, & Why? We have actually asked this question before, or at least one very close to it. That was almost exactly one year ago, and it will be interesting to see how things have changed over the last 12 months.

Social networking is constantly changing, which is why we’d like to get a feel for how the MakeUseOf readership views the genre at this particular moment in time. Tell us which social network you use above all others and why you use it over the alternatives. After all, there are so many available there has to be a reason for gravitating towards a particular one.

This question was prompted by changes being made to both Facebook and Google+. The former is preparing to change its user interface once more, with the Timeline we all know and love undergoing a makeover. The latter is continually being adapted, but the most recent makeover prompted cries from some quarters that Google was copying Facebook. Which is an interesting avenue to explore.

Those who don’t use any social networks aren’t excluded from taking part in the discussion. Feel free to explain your reasons for avoiding the lure of these sites. Do the privacy and data issues put you off? Or do you merely fail to see the appeal in talking to people on the InterWebs? Have you instead been banned from social networks?

Drawing Conclusions

All comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what You Told Us. One reader will be chosen for the coveted Comment Of The Week, getting their name up in lights, the respect of other readers, and 150 MakeUseOf points to use for MakeUseOf Rewards. What more motivation than that do you need to respond?

We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to necessitate a discussion. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow MakeUseOf Readers. This column is nothing without you, as MakeUseOf is nothing without you.

Image Credit: Chelsea Gomez

The post What Is Your Favorite Social Network, & Why? [We Ask You] appeared first on MakeUseOf.