With the proliferation of applications that do something with Twitter most people do not even log into their Twitter account directly though the web site anymore. Early desktop applications have been getting better and new applications are being stuffed with features. Most are now running on the popular Adobe Air platform and most do very similar things with your tweets. Which application is right for you?

TweetDeck
TweetDeck, in my opinion, is the best desktop application for managing your Twitter addiction account. With TweetDeck you organize those you follow into “groups”. These groups make it easier to follow a particular topic without the tweets being intermingled with the tweets of other people you follow. Say you have a “tech” group and you designated a few of the tech savvy people into that group. When they make updates, their tweets will go into the tech group column where you can quickly scan through that topic. The TweetDeck application just rolled out a new update to incorporate Facebook feeds into the mix. With the addition of Facebook you can now have a column that collects you friend’s Facebook status while giving you the opportunity to update your own status. Other nifty additions to make both Twitter and Facebook mesh, you can “tweet” someones Facebook status or update your Twitter and Facebook status all at once. The TweetDeck application is my personal favorite at the moment for its ease of use, slick layout and in depth feature set.

Seesmic Desktop
Seesmic’s Desktop application is the new kid on the block for your tweeting needs. While still in “Preview Release” Seesmic’s offering seems like a stripped down version of TweetDeck…so far. To organize your follower’s tweets you create “User Lists” similar to TweetDeck’s groups. As the application stands now I am not impressed with its feature set and believe their interface could use some work. As of this writing I could not add new followers after a search for particular topics. There are also iconic buttons that do not have tool tips to explain what they do. I like the effort so far by Seesmic and hope when the application is ready for the full release that it will be able to compete with TweetDeck. I look forward to giving it a good run through when it’s fully released.

Seesmic Twhirl
This is another Seesmic desktop tweeting application and it is a great solution for those not needing to organize your followers. It is very simple to use and has just enough features to keep you reading and tweeting in style. This is kind of an odd observation but I almost feel like I am using an IM client when using Twhirl…in a good way.

TwitterFox
While not a desktop application TwitterFox is a great extension for the Firefox browser. TwitterFox offers you the essentials for following your followers and tweeting when you need to. It’s a simple install and once you log in there’s nothing more to setup. I recommend it for your quick tweeting fixes.

One disadvantage practically all Twitter applications have is they can be extremely disruptive if you happen to be doing work and trying to passively keep up. All of the applications have “dings” and pop-ups signifying new tweets and unless you turn them off you will find yourself halting work and skimming through new tweets every couple minutes.

There are a number of “tweeting” applications that work with the iPhone, iPod Touch and other browsers. I just touched on ones that I have experience using. It really is going to be a matter of choosing the application that suits your needs.

I was talking with some co-workers the other day and I came up with this question… “Do we really need all these social networking avenues?” Their answers were various but what it comes down to is this question… “Why do we need all these social networking avenues?” Why do we need an account for Twitter, Blog(s), Facebook, Digg, etc. on top of using IM, Email, and IRC(do people still use it?)? Surely we are setting ourselves up for some sort of “Social Networking Overload”. There are nights that I sit down to do some programming and get caught up reading emails, reading what people said on Facebook, reading articles that come up from Digg, reading snippets of what people are doing now (Reading, eating, commenting on…) on Twitter and reading blogs. Not to mention all the writing we do in order to participate in the conversations or offer opinions.

I remember back in the day when you woke up, ate breakfast, went to school or work, got home, went outside to play or do yard work then went to bed…and I’m not that old. Interaction with others was either in person, via mail or on the telephone. Looking back life seemed a lot simpler then. (Cue daydream sequence) I don’t remember ever being overwhelmed with information even when routing through an encyclopedia for research. The most overload you may have felt was reading the paper while watching the news while listening to a baseball game on the radio. Now it seems peoples eyes are glued to their computer monitors and typing updates about what they are doing while living vicariously through others.

Feeding fuel to the fire are evaluations being done that say people that use social networking at work are more productive. Are you kidding me? Is it even possible to browse in “moderation”? Are they that bent on making social networking an acceptable part of your work day? Unless you’re managing social networking for a living I simply do not see how it can make you more productive. Unplugging from the computer and getting some fresh air while giving your eyes and mind a rest might do better…don’t you think? Are we going to eventually go the route of those portly folks in the movie Wall-E? We already appear to be sitting in our comfy chairs, consuming carbs and sweets oblivious to the world around us.

No doubt there have been some great advancements in technology over the last few years. And now more than ever we have the opportunity to connect with people we probably wouldn’t know existed. But do we really need to ‘connect’ so much that I’m following you on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, your blog and whatever future technology that comes around the bend?

I for one am going to go outside, get a breath of fresh air and absorb what nature has to offer. I’m not buying into the idea that you need to ride this wave to success or drown trying to catch up. First, I’m going to catch up on my tweet backlog then look out nature, here I come.