Some Twitter tools for making sense of conversations

Several people have noticed, and I am feeling it myself as well, that it can be challenging to follow particular conversations within our #BMCed250 hashtag on Twitter.  When Twitter hashtags are used at discrete real-time events (like in-class, at conferences, the scheduled #edchat, etc.) conversations are easier to follow because all the participants are attending to the Tweets at the same time.  With our class we're using the #BMCed250 hashtag to converse over a longer span of time and asynchronously (without all necessarily seeing all the tweets simultaneously), so particular conversations within the hashtag are a little more difficult to manage.

Anyway, here are a few tools/techniques I found that might help you sort it all out if you are finding things chaotic:

Within Twitter

https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169582-what-s-where-in-twitter-s-new-design#conversations

Twitter Help notes that clicking the Open link on any tweet will expand it to show replies, but I notice that this only shows one level deep (so, not ideal).  At least this is the case on the web browser interface on a desktop PC.  The various mobile interfaces may be different.

TweetConvo

http://www.tweetconvo.com/

This site will show the thread of replies for any tweet's id or URL without your having to log in.  To get the URL of a tweet, in Twitter, click the Open link on the tweet, then click the Details link.  Copy the URL that's in your browser address box.

Tweetree

http://tweetree.com/

This site will show tweets where you are @mentioned in a threaded, tree format.  Login required.

TweetChat

http://tweetchat.com/room/bmced250

This service is not for threading conversations, but it is a good way not to forget to type in the #BMCed250 hashtag because it enters it for you.

One last thing, remember that any tool that shows threaded Twitter conversations relies on your having used the Reply link to respond to a tweet.  That is the only way these programs know to relate one tweet to another, so use Reply liberally!