Using Tweet Deck to tidy up Twitter

If you are a long term Twitter fried of mine, you'll know I much prefer using Tweet Deck to the main Twitter page (on the PC, at least - I don't find the iPad and phone versions anywhere near as user friendly).

If you don't already use Tweet Deck, you can find it here - it's free, and you can download it as an app to run separately from your browser, or simply visit it just as you would any other web page. Then you can have columns running across the page with your main Twitter stream, your @ mentions, direct messages, and many other things like lists, searches and interactions so that you can see what's going on in several different places at once without having to go to a new page each time.

But the most powerful tool of all in Tweet Deck is the Global Filter. When your Twitter stream fills up with things you don't want to read, yet you don't want to unfollow the people who are talking, you can simply filter it out! Very often when there's chat going on about a TV programme, a Twitter party or a business networking event, there will be a hashtag which everyone in the conversation is using. To remove every tweet containing that hashtag, go up to the top right of your Tweet deck display and click on the cog wheel then select "Settings" from the drop down menu and click on Global Filter. A box will open up on your screen

Choose "Text content" from the drop down filter menu, copy the hashtag into the space below and click the "Add filter" button and hey presto! All the tweets  containing it vanish from your sight without affecting the enjoyment of those chatting. There doesn't have to be a hashtag, either - so if  Twitter seems to be full of talk about a particular subject and you no longer want to read about it (for instance as I write this, I'm getting bored to tears with Lance Armstrong) simply filter it out! You can use the text filter to temporarily remove things you don't feel like talking about at the moment but easily delete the filter when you are in the mood  to join in.

The option below "Text content" is "author". If you filter somebody out, bear in mind that it will filter them out COMPLETELY. Not just their tweets but every mention of them and every retweet by other  people. It will even filter out any @ messages they send to you. So only use this if you are absolutely certain you don't want anything at all to do with that user.

The final option is "Source"and this can be the best of all for compers,  especially if you have non-comping friends and family who complain about your comping tweets. You have  probably already told them how to hide your retweets, but they will have still had to bear up with all the tweets you make through apps. For instance if you enter comps through magazine websites or a retweeting service such as Twitaculous, they look like normal tweets from you but they can still be filtered out! As can all those horoscope,  "The fred bloggs  daily is out" and "3 people followed me and 9999 people unfollowed me" tweets,which are also sent through apps.

To filter out all tweets made through a particular app, use Tweet Deck to view the tweet then click on "Details" at the bottom. The name of the app - for instance Twitaculous Retweeter, Mari Claire - share and gain!, paper.li  Twittascope or fllwrs - will show  and you can past it into a Source filter.

Result - peace and quiet for your family and as much tweeting as you like for yourself!