How To's Digital Strategies E-Media Tidbits

by lavrusikPublished Jan. 4, 2010 10:58 pm

Updated Nov. 22, 2010 8:06 pm

If you’re like me, you first hear about a lot of news and information through

your Twitter stream. It’s is an excellent way to tap into what the buzz is about at

the moment. But if you follow more than 500 people who post frequently, it can

be difficult to filter the stream and see what your most trusted sources have

shared — especially if you’ve been away for awhile.

Several desktop apps and Web sites, like TweetDeck and HootSuite, will help

you manage your Twitter account. But there also are several services that will

filter your stream and the collective content on Twitter so you can get the most

important (or at least the most popular) news and information shared by users.

Here are eight sites that can help you filter the signal from the noise.

Filtered by Followers: Twitter Tim.es and MicroPlaza

After you log in with your Twitter username, The Twitter Tim.es creates a page

that displays stories by filtering through what the people you follow have

tweeted the most. The Twitter Tim.es shows who has posted the story along

with a blurb to give you an idea of what it’s about. In some cases, the service

shows the full text of the post. It also gives you options to view popular stories

on Twitter from media sources and Twitter Lists.

MicroPlaza helps you see what’s being shared by many people — both the

people you follow and all Twitter users. MicroPlaza puts more emphasis on

what people say about the link by prominently displaying their tweets directly

below the link and allowing you to easily see all the tweets on the link. This is

probably the most flexible filtering tool. You can change how the streams are

displayed, see what’s most popular today (or this week or this month), even

assume the identity of other Twitter users and see what their sources are

sharing. MicroPlaza also bookmarks links (though I wish it synced with other

bookmarking services).

8 Tools to Help Filter Your Twitter Stream & FindNews

8 Tools to Help Filter Your Twitter Stream & Find News | Poynter. http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbit...

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