Twuffer - Scheduling your tweets
by DannyUK
Twitter is all about being “in the moment”. 140 characters make sure that you are snappy with what you type, and that you get your point across quickly.
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Part of Twitter’s popularity is that it is impressively speedy at spreading news. So much so that many news sites now use Twitter as a source of stories before getting confirmation.
Sometimes, though, there is a need for scheduling your tweets. I’m notoriously forgetful. I’m also prone to being lazy. There are times that I will remember someone’s birthday a few days in advance, but then will forget on the day itself. Twuffer allows me to write out a tweet and schedule it to be sent at some time in the future - A Godsend!
I’ve only used the service for a few days, but I’ve yet to experience any major problems. If you can get past the name, which let’s be honest, is a horrible name, (even if the name is a mix of Twitter Buffer, which is a pretty accurate description of what it does) then it’s fine.
Twuffer is web-based and can be accessed at Twuffer.com, which asks you for permission to access your Twitter information (namely following new people, updating your profile but most importantly to post tweets on your behalf).
As a blogger, it also allows me to choose when I want to post tweets about my blog posts. One day I’ll figure out what time people tend to read blogs, and whether there is a good or bad time to tweet about them. Until then, I can vary the times and days that things get posted.
Screenshots
Logging in… It’s nice to see an app that doesn’t need access to absolutely everything to do its job. I’d argue that even some of the access it has here is probably unnecessary, but I’m happy enough with the bits it’s asking for here.
The Twitter authorisation screen.
Writing… Easy enough, and not too dissimilar to Twitter itself, with the added exception of asking when you’d like your tweet to be sent.
When you write a tweet.
The final tweet… This appears on your Dashboard on the Twuffer website, and can be edited or deleted, or the time or date changed as needed.
The final scheduled tweet.
Verdict
At last, a return to simplicity. There are a few options around that will time delay your tweets, and it seems to mainly be a function offered by third party software rather than webpages that allow you to log in. This layout is simple and easy to use, there’s not much to it which means it’s virtually idiot-proof.
Historically the site has had some problems to do with the Twitter API, which was changed and meant that many sites and apps had to change various bits and pieces, but it seems to be ok other than that. There’s no need to register with the site itself, and it’s free to use!
Try it out and see how you get on. In the meantime, I’m going to Twuff a tweet to be sent long after I’m dead so that I can scare any future grandkids.
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I’m always surprised by the access these types of services ask for. For Twuffer, why does it need anything other than the ability to post to your timeline? Specifically, what could it possible need this ability for:
– See who you follow, and follow new people.
It’s going to follow people for me? Wtf? And why does it need the ability to modify my profile? It doesn’t even need to be able to read my timeline. I’m not asking it to forward responses from the tweets it posts for me. I just don’t get it.
Oh, I totally agree. There’s loads of Twitter apps that request far more access than they actually need, and your points are spot on. Fortunately Twuffer seems to not do anything naughty. If it ever starts changing things, I’ll stop using it and unlink it.
There’s a good change there’s nothing other than perhaps data collection on the part of the dev going on. But it always just rubs me the wrong way.
I’m composing an email to the developer now to ask. Have to say I’m a bit underwhelmed by his/hers/theirs sites. There’s not a lot of info on the Twuffer site, but one of the few links, the link to “privacy policy,” simply gives you a non-graphic version of the page you’re coming from.
And on the dev’s site, if you go to the contact section at the bottom (which clicking on the menu bar “contact” takes you to), and click on the linked email listed (hello@gradybritton.com), instead of popping up an email form or trying to launch your email client, it takes you to a 404 error page because it’s an actual url link: http://gradybritton.com/hello@gradybritton.com
And mind you, this is from a web company that describes itself thusly:
“Grady Britton is a modern creative agency of 20+ creative pros, perfectly balanced with brand expertise and channel savviness. We craft public relations, digital strategy, media visibility, and content strategy with the right creative message to catalyze lasting change for our clients.”
Of course, now that I see that this is apparently a web PR company it’s not surprising they want more access than simply posting to your timeline.
Btw, found your post via a google search for reviews of Twuffer.
On further thought, I suppose the dev wants to make you follow Twuffer on Twitter (thus the need to be able to create new follows)? But still can’t figure out why it would want to modify your profile – unless it wants to add a line about you using their service. Regardless, none of these are appropriate uses of being given access to my account. For me, if the functionality you’re asking for isn’t expressly necessary for the service you’re advertising, then you shouldn’t be asking for it and I’m suspicious of your motives.