There are a number of extras, tools and third party applications that can make Twitter a lot easier. The value of each one is going to depend on your own needs and preferences. Maybe you get everything you want at Twitter.com, but if not there are other options.
Shortening Links
Putting useful links in your tweets is always a good idea, but that pesky 140-character limit can cause problems. Twitter.com will often automatically shorten your URLs, but that doesn’t always help you cram as many characters into your tweets as possible. There are a number of URL shortening services out there, including Tinyurl, is.gd, bit.ly, ow.ly and more. Some simply shorten your links, but others will also provide stats and tracking.
Photos & Video
A lot of folks also share photos and video from their cellphone and post them directly to Twitter using tools like Twitpic, Twitvid, Yfrog and Posterous. They make Twitter on the go a much more visual experience.
Third Party Apps
There are a number of third party applications that let you take Twitter out of the web. Some of these are desktop programs and others are for mobile devices. Either way, there’s a slew of them and they’re constantly being updated and improved with various features. A quick sampling includes HootSuite (web based, multiple accounts and scheduled tweets), Tweetie (multiple accounts for Mac), TweetDeck (good organization with groups), CoTweet (great for shared accounts) and Tweetchat (for hashtag chats). Twitter lists even more on their site. You’ll likely need to experiment and figure out which set of features serves your style the best.
Stats
It’s always helpful to have some metrics. TweetStats offers helpful graphs of your Twitter usage like tweets per month, day and hour. TwitterCounter has graphs of your followers and tweets over time.
Just for Fun
Twibbon lets you create and add ribbons to your Twitter avatar to support various causes. You can jump on a pre-existing bandwagon or create your own. Some are serious (Alex’s Lemonade Stand) and some are ridiculous (International Bacon Day. You can also have fun with Twitter by jumping on various trends, like Follow Friday or Music Monday.
