Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Widget Watch
Widget Watch: Tweet Ahead for scheduling Twitter posts
Twitter means many things to many people, but to some it is more or less a mini-blogging service, offering users a streamlined blogging platform that allows for both posting and syndication via a wide variety of methods. One downside of Twitter, however, is the inability to schedule posts ahead of time. Sure, there's always been the web-based TweetAhead, but now that service has been packaged in a Dashboard widget. Offering a simple interface, you simply need to flip the widget over to enter your Twitter credentials and set your time zone; after that, you're all set to enter tweets and specify a time for them to be posted (but be sure to heed the time zone instructions on the back of the widget).
Strangely, after tinkering with both the TweetAhead web app and this Dashboard widget, I can only get either to work intermittently. Sometimes the tweets I schedule get posted, sometimes they don't. I assume this could be due to Twitter possibly not offering any official methods for actually doing this, but that's only a guess.
Still, if you have better luck with these services, they can be a handy tool for anyone who wants to schedule tweets in the future.
[via, ironically, Yohannes Wijaya's Twitter feed]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
artifex said 2:27PM on 6-19-2007
I'm not sure I really get Twitter, yet. We're supposed to watch each other talk about what we're doing, like reading TUAW and stuff? Hey, look at me, I'm eating now! And now you can pretend you're posting live when you're not?
Tell me, has anyone created a timer to remind you when it's time to post spontaneously, too? :)
No, really, I still don't get it. Someone link to someone using it in a way that really enhances productivity or is informational to others, please? Or just tell me a nice story? Thanks.
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Arlo said 3:01PM on 6-19-2007
There's something fascinating about watching all of your friends post on Twitter. Sure, some people tend to be a little more tedious than others -- I don't care if you're going to bed or driving to work. But when dozens of people are simultaneously posting something intimately and personally significant -- enjoying a delicious meal somewhere, working on a new art project, hearing something funny at work -- the collective force of it can be unbelievable if you're open to it. It's the sort of things you would tell your friends in a phone conversation or via IM, but you're broadcasting it to a new group of friends, and it's en masse. If it's not your thing, it's not your thing. But the novelty just doesn't seem to wear off for me. I dig it. This tweet ahead dealie is going to be helpful for my upcoming wedding and honeymoon when I actually leave my cell phone at home for a week.
http://twitter.com/arlodesign
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sxtxixtxcxh said 3:41PM on 6-19-2007
@artifex:
when i'm away from my computer, i have adium set up to snag my twitter and use it as my status message/auto-reply message.
i can easily change the message/status via a quick txt to twitter on my phone. i think that counts as a practical use. maybe you don't care for instant messaging, or using it to inform your friends...
i see a new meme coming: in america, only old people use blogs
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KeatonTech said 3:45PM on 6-19-2007
Hey, I'm tweetaheads creator (I made the dashoard widget too, but I had a freind upload it 'cause you have to be 18 to do that). Just wanted to say that i'm honored to be mentioned here and that i'm gonna go work really hard to get it to work right, my probelem seems to be the fact that I only have one server and it can't send very many tweets per minute.
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AriX said 3:58PM on 6-19-2007
Hey, I'm the other creator of TweetAhead. (Alright, Keaton almost all of it, but I helped make the passwords work and encrypted and schtuff) Thanks a lot for talking about us, we really appreciate it. As KeatonTech said, we are trying to fix these problems, and hopefully it will work fully once we are done.
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Dave Chartier said 4:10PM on 6-19-2007
#1: Twitter is used in a number of different ways by different people. Some use it to talk about what they're up to, like "heading to lunch" so everyone following their feed (perhaps friends or coworkers) know that they're out. If they use a program like Twitterrific from the Iconfactory which also changes your iChat/Adium/Skype status when you send a tweet, *everyone* following you will know you just went out to lunch - whether they have you on their iChat buddy list, follow you via SMS on their mobile phone or watch your tweets in Twitterrific. Extending this idea a little further, you can also use Twitter to let your friends know that the meeting time at the resturaunt has changed from 6 to 8 pm - again, everyone watching you on their buddy list will see the update, and they can even get that message via SMS on their mobile phone if they're nowhere near their computer.
From my experience, it looks like most people use Twitter to share ideas and links and to pseudo-chat about them. Using various tools you can easily link a webpage you're reading about, and Twitter friends can easily comment on those pages or tweet about related links of their own.
For a short definition, I think "a universal status message / chat room with just the friends you want to chat with" might help explain things, though that isn't very short or catchy. :)
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Scott Robbin said 4:11PM on 6-19-2007
Nice work, KeatonTech and AriX.
Not to detract from your hard work on TweetAhead, but there's a very similar concept using a Twitter Bot called Timer:
http://twitter.com/timer
You can use the direct message functionality of Twitter to send yourself reminder messages. Works great with SMS.
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artifex said 4:30PM on 6-19-2007
Okay you guys, I idle on my ICQ and in irc channels, I have AIM on my phone, etc. I guess I can see Twitter being useful for updating status for my friends, especially if Adium will take it, etc. I'm not convinced it's as good for conversations as IM or IRC, though, David :) Especially with web interfaces available for some IM servers, and all that. I've registered a nick there (someone already had my name :( ) and I'll have to play with it, to see if it grows on me. Maybe I need to make more friends, to hit critical mass or something.
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sxtxixtxcxh said 10:41AM on 6-20-2007
you can keep your adium status up to date (no matter what interface you used to update your twitter) with the TwitterAdium plugin.
http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=3484
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