Last time I talked about changing my default applications, I was comparing Google Chrome with Mozilla Firefox – two of the leading alternative web browsers. Today, I thought I’d look at the differences in the two leading Social Media tools – Seesmic Desktop and Tweetdeck.
I actually started out using Tweetdeck, then moved to Seesmic Desktop, and now, I’m pondering the move back to Tweetdeck. After a week or two of switching between the two, I honestly haven’t picked a favorite. Here’s the factors:
1. Netbook – Seesmic Desktop completely takes over my 1000HE – I am unable to do anything else on the machine while Seesmic Desktop is running, which is a MAJOR issue. I can’t even stream Last.FM without it skipping. With Tweetdeck, I have no problems running additional applications at the same time.
2. System Integration – Seesmic Desktop looks (and seems to act) very much like an OSX app – it’s all silvery-brushed metal, has little bitty minimize/maximize/close buttons, and the layout is just very….Mac. It also doesn’t play well with UltraMon, which is annoying. As explained before, UltraMon puts a little button in the menu bar of windows that makes it really simple to transfer windows between monitors – Seesmic Desktop doesn’t show this button, which is frustrating.
3. Network Support – at the time of this writing, Seesmic Desktop only supports Twitter and Facebook. Meanwhile, Tweetdeck supports Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Google Buzz. While I don’t actively use all of those right now, it’s nice to know I could integrate them into my social media activities easily if I wanted to.
4. Aesthetics – this one’s tough. Seesmic is able to show me more tweets on the screen, which I really like. Tweetdeck seems to allot X number of lines to each update – whether the user uses them or not. This results in PLENTY of blank space, which is annoying. However, Tweetdeck supports color profiles – not only can you change all the colors, you can tweet your settings easily. Thus, you can search to see what others are using. The only thing missing here is the ability to apply someone else’s colors with just one click. Also, Tweetdeck acts like a normal Windows…window, which means it plays nicely with UltraMon.
5. Sync – Tweetdeck synchronizes your columns and accounts across installs – including their mobile clients. While I don’t use Tweetdeck Mobile (it’s only on iPhone/iPad right now), this is a really awesome feature for switching between my Dell XPS M1330 and my Asus 1000HE – all my columns are there. As Tweetdeck releases new mobile clients, it’s reasonable to assume this will work there, too. Seesmic has a web-based client, but it doesn’t seem to synchronize anything across. Note that, annoyingly enough, Tweetdeck only synchronizes your custom columns – making them available on other installs. It doesn’t enable them by default, though hopefully they’ll add this ability in the future.
6. Combining columns – this is one major reason I usually stick with Seesmic Desktop – I can easily have a single ‘Mentions’ column that shows @replies for *all* of my Twitter accounts. I can hobble this together in Tweetdeck, but it misses some, on occasion, and it’s just not the same. Since I’m no longer maintaining the @SymbianGuru twitter account, this isn’t really an issue.
Since I only really manage a single ‘personality’ nowadays, I vastly prefer Tweetdeck. It plays nicely with UltraMon, behaves like a normal Windows application, and has better aesthetics. Which client do you use? Do you use it just for Twitter, or do you also use it to manage Facebook or other social media outlets?
Ricky Cadden 
agreed with you. Seesmic started out great, full of promise, but then they kind of… forgot about it. Whereas Tweetdeck has been constantly updated and runs great. I do like the Seesmic Android app… but probably only because there isn't a Tweetdeck one.Come on Loic, pull your finger out… (and give us non-Mac themes like you promised when you launched the thing)
Appreciate your thoughtful post. We've been working on a new desktop, developed with silverlight that I think you'll find superior and useful. It's currently available in a preview version, but look to a beta coming shortly. We also have a great service in seesmic web and we've released a whole slew of features, and works excellent with Netbooks and available now! http://seesmic.com/web/ if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line at yama [at] seesmic [dot} com . Once again, Thanks!
Hello Yama,
I was looking to do a custom search on my SD2, but I’m unable to find where? Is it possible?
Ah… silly me, found it, top right hand side, I was looking for it in the left nav.
Thank you,
Hi, James – thanks for connecting. The search box should be on the upper right hand corner. You may have to close the compose (where you write messages), if you have it open. Let me know if you still have trouble finding it. Thanks! Yama
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I've actually been using Seesmic Web at work. It's pretty nice, given it's a web-based interface. I'll keep an eye out for you guys' next beta of the desktop app, too!