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April 7, 2008 10:03 AM PDT

What does your TweetCloud say about you?

by Caroline McCarthy

This morning, it seems like everyone on my Twitter contacts list is talking about TweetClouds. It's an application that uses the microblogging service's API to create a "cloud" of the most frequently used words used in a given Twitter member's feed of "tweets."

It only works with Twitter accounts that are publicly accessible--some members keep their updates friends-only--and it takes a while for the app to munch through all the "tweets" and form a cloud. And like many small Twitter applications that get unexpected viral buzz, the server sometimes crashes. But when it's working, the end result can be kind of cool.

My TweetCloud.

(Credit: TweetClouds.com)

Judging by my Tweet Cloud, it looks like I most frequently Twitter about hopping around the grid of Manhattan. My most-Twittered word is "going," followed by words like "getting," "home," "time," and um, "party." After that, it looks like I Twitter about my job: words like "office," "work," "writing," "coffee," and "facebook" (the company I spend the most time writing about) are on there, too, as is "boston," a city I like to make fun of a lot.

Also in the cloud are some of my favorite things, like "running," "reading," and "pizza," and a display of my propensity for words like "dude," "awesome," "omg," and "pumped."

Another new application of note is TweetStats, a more quantitative Twitter application that crunches numbers on how often you Twitter, to whom you send the most "reply" tweets, and when you're Twittering the most (3 a.m. anyone?). CenterNetworks' Allen Stern suggests it as a way to spy on other Twitter users. He's probably got the right idea there.

Now if there were a way to mash up TweetClouds and TweetStats, well, that would be creepy.

Originally posted at The Social
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register)
Some people's time priority is just tweetered away
by masonx April 8, 2008 9:18 AM PDT
What this says about you is that: You have way to much too much time on you hands and for your mind - if you find this at the head of your interest priorities.
Reply to this comment
by rogerlkatz March 4, 2009 3:57 PM PST
check out tweetcloud.net for a more fully functional version of a tweetcloud. see what's being said across the twittersphere, or search for a key word or user and see there tweetcloud. more importantly, any term is clickable, so you can actually see the tweets related to that term.

tweetcloud.net
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