Special Update: Mike has responded to this review in the comments below.  Be sure to read them and chime in with your own questions…

Mike Filsaime is known for coming out with products that are innovative, cutting edge, and monetized almost to a fault.  TweetGlide is no different.  Allow me to share with you how this free Adobe Air based application can make tweeting easier for you, create a revenue stream (if you want it to), and can be used to advertise on Twitter.  I will share my first impressions of TweetGlide, who TweetGlide is for, who it is not for, and explain the business model behind the product.  By the end of this review hopefully you’ll have enough information to decide if TweetGlide is for you.

Review of TweetGlide from Mike Filsaime

There has been so much buzz around twitter, it has been almost deafening.  With it have come a hoard of applications, a select few of which are reviewed here on this site.  Mike Filsaime’s creation TweetGlide is no different.  If you are familiar with other adobe air applications for Twitter, like Tweetdeck, then you’ll understand this application quickly.

First Impressions of TweetGlide

The application itself is indeed similar to TweetDeck.  I don’t expect it to be as smooth as TweetDeck, because TweetDeck has been out so long and ironed out many of it’s bugs.  That said, TweetGlide already put out and update which addressed a duplicate tweet bug (kind of important). Get the latest version of TweetGlide here…

The Good Stuff:

• The tweets seem to flow in nicely across all columns.
• The bottom of each colum has a relevant set of functions based on what the column is (mentions, DMs, Favs, etc.) so that you can quickly take action.
• After clicking the search button, typing in your search terms, and hitting ok, TweetGlide creates a new column for your search.  I found this useful, and if I don’t want it, just click the X in the upper right of the column.
• Provides support for common URL shorteners (with some analytics).
• iPhone: while not yet available, based on their homepage it looks like they have a version for the iPhone under development.  Smart move.

TweetGlide User Interface - TweetDeck Users Will Find this Familiar

Where it Needs Improvement:

I think Mike and his team know that they have to be vigilant to build in features and add value to the product for it to be a success, and as mentioned earlier, they already released a fix for a but this morning, yet there are some things I did notice…

• Tiny Tiny buttons. The font isn’t too bad, but the buttons are a bit too tiny for my liking, and I see no place to configure them (to make them larger).  They are also spaced out a bit, perhaps that is what is necessary with the black background, but the buttons need to be larger.
• Non functioning buttons. More about buttons…There is at least one button that does nothing, and tells you nothing.  Case in point, there is a Facebook button… Perhaps this is to indicate a future feature, maybe I’m just picky, but remove the button entirely, or gray it out, or make a tooltip (bubble) indicating this is for the upcoming Facebook integration.
• URL Shortener: While it is part of the product, I didn’t see where I can integrate my bit.ly account so that analytics is tracked for my login.  If you know where to set this up, please share in the comments below this post.

Who TweetGlide is For

If you are looking to get a windows application with a TweetDeck-like user interface, with advertising capabilities (more on that in a moment), as well as an opportunity to make money (more on that in a sec, too), TweetGlide may be a good fit for you.  Get the full story on TweetGlide here…

Who TweetGlide is Not For

If you are a corporate user, or someone that doesn’t like the idea of making money using twitter, or with affiliate marketing referral systems,  TweetGlide will most likely be a turnoff for you.  Let me be clear, I do understand, it is not for everyone.  More on the business model below.

Business Model Behind TweetGlide

The application is free.  That is good.  And as a free user, you get to build advertising credits.  There is an Sponsored Tweets column in the software, and with that enabled your add credits build, and your ads will be shown.  Yep, you get to write ads that are exposed to other TweetGlide users.  So as the application get’s more popular, or viral (classic Filsaime businesses model), the ad will get more and more exposure.

Option to Upgrade TweetGlide

Beyond that there is a special opportunity presented when you activate the application to become a “Premier Member”.  This one time offer allows you to pay for ad placement such that your ad stands out from non paid ads with color, and up to 400 characters (not the 140).  I’ve spent a fair amount of time studying and using 3rd party Twitter advertising networks, and what is offered in TweetGlide seems like a decent value, and will increase in value as the application becomes more popular.  I don’t know the inner workings of the business model, but I would imagine it is a supply and demand thing, as it gets more popular it makes sense that the price will go up. Get the full story on TweetGlide here…

In simplest terms, the advertising is attractive, and it is setup as an multi level marketing business model.  The best way to understand it is to watch the video on the TweetGlide homepage.

Bottomline on TweetGlide

I think the application has some promise, but what will win users over is the ability to advertise with it, and monetize their tweets (ads) using the TweetGlide interface.  The best thing you can do is download it, and try it out for yourself, I think it is time well spent.  Get the full story on TweetGlide here…

Chime In: What are your impressions of the product, did you decide to download it?  How did you respond to the process?  Are you planning on testing the advertising component of the product?  Chat it up in the boxes below.

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