Mr. Tweet is a Genius–and Good Lookin’ Too

A wonderful new application called Mr. Tweet does two things:

1. It identifies and briefly describes people who are following your Twitter updates but whom you do not follow back.

2. It identifies the most “influential” people in your network, based on their popularity, content relevance to you and likelihood of their following back.

I hate when people say you can sign up with “one-click ease,” but in this case it’s true.

I try to resist the “popularity contest” vibe that’s spreading on Twitter. What others do is fine–go ahead, build an Ego Posse that’s big and full of name-brand Twits, and strive to get more followers as a marker of personal worth or a distribution network for your branding and marketing message. Knock yourself out.

But even for me, proprietor of what is still a modest, selective posse, Mr. Tweet is valuable. Mr. Tweet makes a Twitter user’s habits transparent. By reporting, among other things, how frequently a Twitterer issues updates [and who else follows him or her], it helps me make better follow decisions. For instance, I prefer to follow those who Tweet fewer than six times a day; I make rare exceptions. Now I know what I’m getting into when I hit that “Follow” button.

Besides, Mr. Tweet is beautifully groomed. I’ve seen this guilelessly simple site design in a few start-ups lately, though I can’t recall which. I admire its defiant reliance on function and clarity.

I hope it’s a trend. It would certainly force down the cost of startup site design. Not a bad thing in these cash-starved times.