The different between TweetDect and HootSuit

The advantages of TweetDeck

 Pop-up notifications: TweetDeck is a computer program which can run in the background and keep you updated throughout the day, great for keeping up your tweeting throughout the day without referring back to Twitter.

    Link with other social networks: as well as Twitter you can link to Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn.

    Manage multiple accounts in one window

    Auto-shorten URLs

    Simple interface: of course the standard grey and white colour scheme is down to personal taste, but the layout is simple, fast and uncluttered.

    Unlimited columns: this is a major advantage for TweetDeck, with as many columns as you like of mentions, real-life friends, business contacts, industry leaders, search phrases you are watching – as well as standard friends, replies and direct messages.

The disadvantages of TweetDeck

Statistics: statistics can be viewed through bit.ly or your chosen URL shortener (see Settings), but this requires a separate username and password.

    Reliability: it can be a bit flaky sometimes, and you may find you miss a tweet or mention which simply hasn’t shown up in TweetDeck

The advantages of HootSuite

 Website: although there’re no pop-up notifications, the website platform is arguable better as there’s no downloading, less computer power and you can log in anywhere.

    Schedule tweets: schedule your tweets or status updates for other accounts (and also save them as drafts) – great if you want to post a link to a blog post over the weekend for example.

    Link with other social networks: link to Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress and Ping.fm (through it you can update Myspace and LiveJournal).

    Statistics: this is HootSuite’s major advantage with well-presented and easy to view link tracking and analytics – though beware as you’ll need to ensure you shrink all your URLs with the Ow.ly shortener first.

    User management: this aspect is crucial for businesses for whom security is important, with the option of multiple usernames and passwords for one Twitter account – initials can show with updates and HootSuite can keep track of timezones.

Reliability: many users comment that HootSuite seems to update more regularly, or at least consistently.

    Lots of columns: Limit of columns in a tab is 10. With that said, if you want to add more than columns, you can create a new tab for them. On the matter of tabs, you don’t need them to view multiple accounts: for instance, you can organize all your home or news feeds in one tab, and all your sent status updates in another. The sky is really the limit as far as how users choose to organize their tabs.

The disadvantages of HootSuite

Phone application isn’t free: but don’t be surprised if a free edition is released soon – see comment from Hootsuite below

    No auto-shortening: there’s a separate box if you want to shorten your URL – annoying if you want to make use of statistics.

    Clunky interface: this one is perhaps down to personal taste, and HootSuite is certainly big, bold, colourful and perhaps more in-keeping with the actual Twitter website. However, you need to use tabs if you want more than 10 columns and what with no auto-shortening and limited columns HootSuite is overall a bit more clunky to use.