UI Revirew: I Would Use Tweetalink If It Looked Like This…

New twitter tools, apps, and mashups trickle into my Feedly reader on a daily basis. A couple of weeks ago I came across Tweetalink , one of four Tweetfx twitter utilities by @noahwesley. Tweetalink is a browser bookmarklet, that allows you to post a link to the web page that you are currently viewing, as a twitter post. The bookmarklet shortens the url for you and allows you to add your message and publish a tweet directly from your browser. The best part about this tool is that when your followers click the link in your tweet, a bar is added to the top of the destination page (just like facebook does now for shared links). The bar contains your avatar and original twitter message which orients the user and gives a context for the page that they are viewing. This is very helpful. Just this morning I went through tweetdeck and clicked all of the recent links tweeted by my friends. When I minimized tweetdeck and went back into firefox, I had pages opened on twenty different tabs and no idea who posted what. I didn't know who to @reply to, which tweets to retweet, or any contextual information that might further the social engagment around the content. This make tweetalink very usefull. 0p.;/Along with providing context by displaying the original post, it also adds some usefull calls to action so that the user may interact further with the person who shared the link originally. I think this is a very useful tool for building brand and presence for bloggers/tastemakers who care to get credit for turning a person on to something. This is where I will start with my critique.

Brand Image

Since tweetalink has the highest utility for those who benifit from building brand, I think that the bar should reflect the brand image of the person making the post, not the maker of the tool. I would like to be able to costomize the colors and replace the tweetalink logo with my own. This would further orient the enduser (follower) to whom they should "thank" for the post. But what about the guy that made it all possible? What about building brand for the maker of the tool. I think that appending the tweet itself with a #tweetalink tag or a via atribution would serve the originator better and have a greater chance of spreading virally.

Calls To Action

My other major area of contention is in the calls to action. I think that the primary call to action should be retweet. Nothing would help expose the original poster more than having people in new circles re-tweeting their post. The only other explicit call to action should be a "follow me on twitter" link. What about driving traffic to a personal website or blog you ask? Although the custom logo image on the right could be a link to your blog, I think that people should be filtered through your twitter profile first. Afterall, this entire interaction is centered around twitter. You can use your bio section or even your background image to drive traffic where ever you'd like. As they exist now there is no visual hierarchy on tweetalink's calls to action. If you simplify the calls to action and communicate importance visually, you have a better chance at capturing the end user. All in all, I think that the tool is great, and I appreciate @noahwesley's hustle for seing a void and filling it for the twitter community.

• Mar. 16th 2009
• Tagged as call to action, customization, tools, twitter
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