- The iPad is the Social Media hub
- HootSuite
- Google+
- Buffer
- Social Media apps rock the iPad
We are both quite active on Social Media. And being active on Social Media with an iPad at hand is fun. So much fun in fact that we both have to ‘schedule’ our social media time to make sure we don’t spend too much time ‘connecting’ with our friends on all of the available platforms.
The iPad is the Social Media hub
Social Media is one of the great reasons for going #iPadOnly. Apps offered by the major networks are simply better and more fun to interact with on the iPad than from their web sites. With the iPad in hand, it’s easy and more engaging. This is why we do all of our Social Media activities on the iPad.
The integration helps
The bonus feature of the iOS is its integration with both Twitter and Facebook. You can add your social media accounts to the iPad and basically share anything on these networks. We use this to tweet out our thoughts by sharing photos and links.
Michael is Tweeting from his iPad:
“Most of the time, I use the official Twitter client on the iPad - especially when I want to browse my ‘Connect’ tab. This is where I see who’s replying to me, who’s re-tweeting and favoring my tweets and who just started following me.
For casual Twitter browsing and more interaction with the platform I still prefer the Tweetbot client. For a few reasons:
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gestures - swiping, tapping, double-tapping and other gestures help me interact with the timeline more efficiently
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timeline based on lists - I can switch from my ‘general’ timeline to the lists I created. Very cool if I want to browse tweets from just a handful of the people I’m following (like all the productivity gurus, startup founders, etc…)
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integration with Pocket and/or Instapaper - when someone tweets a link, I usually quickly ‘preview’ it and if it feels like an interesting article, I move it to my Pocket and read it later.
So there you have it - I use the official Twitter client for replying and interacting with people and the Tweetbot client to browse my timeline.”
Augusto decided not to tweet from his iPad:
“I don’t do Twitter on the iPad. As you will discover later in this chapter, I only use HootSuite when I participate in Twitter chats, because I think it’s the best solution. HootSuite and the use of columns really make chatting great. I know people who use the iPhone, the MacBook and the iPad in order to be active on the Twitter chats, but I have discovered that by having HootSuite set up correctly, it is more than enough. The rest of my Twitter activity happens on the iPhone.”
HootSuite
HootSuite it is one of those applications that try to do many things at once. It wants to be your Social Media Hub. As mentioned above, Augusto is using it for Twitter chatting:
“I have a column for each Twitter Chat. One for ‘Mentions’ and one for ‘Direct Messages’. Using columns allow me to actively keep up with the speed and volume that these chats tend to have. Again, at least for the iPad, I have not found a better solution than this”
Michael uses HootSuite for ‘Social Media monitoring’:
“I use HootSuite to do more advanced searches than the standard Twitter app allows. I have columns set up to display who mentions ‘Nozbe’, who mentions me, our book, our hashtag (#iPadOnly) etc. By browsing the column I can see what’s happening in the areas of my interest.”
Facebook is the elephant in the ‘social media’ room. This is how we use it on the iPad:
Michael and Facebook:
“I use the official Facebook clients - the ‘Facebook’ app and the ‘Pages’ app. I don’t use the ‘Messages’ app as I prefer not to communicate through Facebook. I have my email Inbox and I prefer to have conversations there. Sometimes people do send me messages via Facebook, but I just reply to these through the Facebook app and that’s it.
As I manage (or help manage) Nozbe’s Facebook page, my official page and other pages, I use the ‘Pages’ app. If you’re into Facebook, interacting with it on the iPad is nice and fast. I don’t remember when I last opened the Facebook web site - I access it only from the iPad app.”
Augusto and Facebook:
“I mostly use the Facebook Pages app. I maintain ‘Augusto Pinaud Books’ as well as my productivity podcast in Spanish ‘Productivo en 25 Minutos’. I use this application to access and see what’s happening there. I prefer to have one application only, mostly because I don’t see the advantage of a second application and for keeping them separate.”
The ‘professional social site’ finally has a very mature and fast iPad app.
Michael’s take on LinkedIn:
“As I’m not looking for a job (I love my current job as the founder and CEO of Nozbe, thank you very much), I’m not using the site very extensively but I do accept invitations and connect with busy professionals from all over the world. With this app it’s very easy to do so.”
Augusto prefers the LinkedIn web site:
“Their iPhone App it is a little basic but it’s getting better with each update. On the iPad the story changes, because I can access LinkedIn in the browser to have the real experience. This is where I choose to act and join that particular network. I am not as active as I should be but I want to use it more.”
Michael is using Pinterest to post his sketches:
“I’m not as active on Pinterest as I’d like to be but I still use it occasionally. Their iPad app is very nice and works extremely fast. And you can ‘pin’ anything by adding their Bookmarklet to your Safari’s bookmarks. I use it mainly to post my sketches done with the Paper app.”
Google+
Google+ is still a mixed bag for both of us. We think their app is very pretty, but we still don’t ‘get’ the social media effort of Google.
Michael on Google+:
“Some people swear by it. Others hate it. I’m still undecided. I don’t like the fact that you can’t post or interact with the site from anywhere else other than their official site or app. No API, no external integrations. That said, their iPad app is very pretty and if you’re into this network, you’ll love the iPad experience.”
Augusto on Google+:
“Google pushed people to join their platform Google Plus and they have killed many things to push people to get there. Most recently they killed Google Reader in order to convince people to share more stuff using Google Plus. My personal opinion is that it feels more like Google Push than Google Plus. I like the speed of Twitter, I understand the idea behind Facebook, but honestly, I never really understood what Google Plus is all about. I don’t know if it is in part that Google is pushing us toward there and I have a natural tendency to go against authority, or the fact that I see it as a black hole. It does so much that I am not totally sure it does anything really well. I am expecting that soon Google will kill Google Groups in an effort to push more people into using Google Plus. I am not sure that even that will encourage me to use it more.”
Buffer
We both love Buffer. It’s a great little app that allows you to schedule your Social Media posts to make sure you don’t overwhelm your followers with too many messages at once. We both use it mainly for Twitter but you can also set it up with Facebook or LinkedIn. It is very easy to use and you can send data and links directly for many applications like Instapaper, Pocket, Drafts, Email and more.
Social Media apps rock the iPad
The great thing about the iPad and the entire iOS platform is the ‘appification’ of the Internet. We mentioned this in the chapter about ‘Web Browsing’. The situation here is similar. On a ‘normal PC’ you’d have to go to the Facebook web site, LinkedIn site and other sites, even though some apps for these platforms exist. On the iPad, you’d practically never visit the sites, as the apps are so much better. They have a more natural and engaging feel with the social media networks. The respective companies double-down on their app development and these apps are getting better day by day. This is why we can’t imagine NOT doing social media on the iPad - it adds to our last chapter’s argument that the iPad is a very powerful communications device.