Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tweetbeat Firsthand: Build Your Twitter Lists, Enhance Your Online Reading Experience

Kosmix's new Tweetbeat Firsthand is the coolest thing I've added to my web experience lately.

What is it? Call it an add-on, extension, plug-in, what-have-you ... it's a browser utility that is nothing short of awesome, especially if you are always looking to add to your Twitter lists, or if you simply want to see what is being said in real time as you read articles and blog posts around the web.

All you have to do is visit the link (Tweetbeat Firsthand) and install the add-on in your browser (there are versions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari). Then, as you read articles, small Twitter icons appear in the text next to names, places and organizations that have a presence on Twitter. Hover over the icon, and the real-time Twitter feed from that organization will appear.

Besides being able to see the live feed, it also allows you to share the feed and site you are via a tweet from your own Twitter account. In other words, it sends a tweet that says something along the lines of "I am reading tweets by @fema on cnn.com with the Tweetbeat Firsthand browser addon http://bit.ly/9xJyzN."

It's a great way to enhance content for the reader in a "read more, now, in real time" kind of way, but on first assessment, I'll probably be more likely to use it as a way to quickly follow Twitter accounts, if I don't follow them already. I can't count the times I've read an article or blog post and wondered if a publication or organization mentioned might have a presence on Twitter. It's rare that I stop what I am reading, open a new browser window and actually go search.

Read TwitterMedia's review of Tweetbeat Firsthand.


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