The Friday Five

With all the social networks to join, it can be difficult to keep up with status updates. Third party applications like Tweetdeck and Seesmic, can help organize and keep track of tweets and status updates on Twitter and Facebook. I've tried both of these applications and though they made things easier, they didn't go far enough for me. I use another client, Digsby. Five things why Digsby works better for me:

1. Not only can I update my status on Twitter and Facebook, but I can also add a status for LinkedIn. (MySpace is also included, but I'm too old to be over there) Like Seesmic or Tweetdeck, I can elect to cross post to each social network or choose which I want to update.

2. With Digsby, one can instant message with friends on Yahoo, AIM, MSN, without having to load each instant messaging program. I only use Yahoo for instant messaging and find I prefer to IM through Yahoo instead of Digsby. Yahoo has a Buzz feature, like an obnoxious doorbell, so I can buzz my friends to let them know I'm really online and not just left the program up and running.

3. What makes Digsby most useful to me is also being notified when email hits all my accounts. I have a business email, personal email, junk email and since I'm taking over my elderly parents bills, I have an account set up for them. With one click from Digsby, I can see new messages. I can delete them from Digsby or open my inbox to read messages.

4. Digsby runs in the background and when a status message or email comes in, a small pop-up screen shows me which network/friend has posted. You can also choose to be notified by a sound too. I only use the sound for email which is helpful if I'm away from the computer.

5. I find it convenient to have all the programs I love to use at my fingertips without keeping screens open and running. Oh, and Digsby is free!

If you're interested in checking out Digsby, you can click on the download button above. I just use Digsby, I don't get paid for endorsement.

Oh and one more. I had a small problem with Digsby. Seems after I used my phone to update my Facebook status, status updated from Digsby didn't show as FB status. They appeared on my wall, but not as my status. Not really a big deal. I tweeted about it. And Digsby responded! Asked me when the problem occurred. Said they're  working on it. Nice that a company cares about their users as well as their product.