Managing Twitter

[jesse_the_k]

I love being on Twitter. Constant stimulation. Jokes zinging right and left. Art and photos from around the world. Checking in with people who I only see once a year at WisCon if I’m lucky.

I hate being on Twitter. Constant stimulation. Terrible things happening world wide, curated for my attention by people I like. As of November 2016, I've been on a total newsfast to maintain my sanity, and there's a LOTS of content that's toxic.

Therefore: three tools that help me interact with Twitter manageably.

Thread Reader App

https://threadreaderapp.com

At your request, this service compiles Twitter threads and hosts them on the site. It’s run by three humans and a busy bot.

Basic service is free:

1. Visit site
2. Enter username, hashtag, keyword in search
3. Admire unrolls — saved threads

For example, many wonderful mushing stories from Iditarod competitor BlairBraverman:

https://threadreaderapp.com/user/BlairBraverman

If you’re already using Twitter, it’s even faster

1. Follow ThreadReaderApp
2. Reply to one of the tweets in the thread
3. Include \@ThreadReaderApp UNROLL in your reply
4. In a few minutes their bot will tweet you the link to your unrolled thread

You can prevent your tweets from being collected by sending \@ThreadReaderApp BLOCK ME

You can also create an account (with email or your Twitter handle) and manage stored unrolls there. The threadreaderapp site syncs its contents with Twitter several times a day. If you pay $30/year they will create PDFs you can download—this is a handy way to "keep receipts," if you’re into that.

TCHAT.io

Twitter chats can be excellent learning spaces, and they move faster than I can track. The tchat.io interface provides a pause button, so you can read the chat at the pace you desire, whether real-time or later.

No account required, though you can sign in with Twitter to contribute within the tchat interface.

Take a look at the #LoveYourPetDay hashtag now trending

http://www.tchat.io/rooms/loveyourpetday

Tweetlogix

is an iOS Twitter client I have been loving for years. I can control what I see in almost every regard. I choose the type size, colors, and backgrounds. I can see images without clicking, prevent autoplay videos, expand links automagically. I can filter keywords, read a person’s timeline and suppress all their retweets, creates lists of accounts to read without following them, save drafts, and much more. Best $4 I’ve ever spent.

https://onloft.com/tweetlogix