There’s no such thing as information overload, there’s only filter failure. — Clay Shirky. Clay Shirky is right, and I’m pretty sure that the twitterati will be nodding their heads in agreement. How many of us actually spend time reading all our tweets, or even providing a cursory glance at all our tweets? Not many I’ll bet. With hundreds and thousands of tweets pouring in everyday, it’s important to ensure that relevant information reaches us at the right time. One way of achieving this is by clearing the clutter, so that you get Twitter to deliver just what you need, when you need it. I happened to come across a neat little plugin that helps to accomplish this task; Slipstream.
UPDATE: Slipstream is no longer available.
What is Slipstream?
A Twitter plugin that allows you to hide unwanted tweets and focus on tweets that matter.
How Slipstream Works?
Slipstream enables you to hide unwanted tweets using the Hide button available at the bottom of each tweet. You can also hide unwanted feeds using filters based on criteria such as keywords, and user names. You can also edit or delete filters at any time.
How to Install Slipstream
1. Navigate to the plugin site and click Add to Twitter.com.
2. At the bottom of the browser window, in the message box, click Continue.
3. In the Confirm Installation dialog box, click Install.
4. The Slipstream icon will be displayed to the left of the Tools button in the toolbar.
5. Enter your Twitter name and password to enable Slipstream to access your Twitter account.
6. If necessary, click Allow to confirm access permissions.
How to Hide Unwanted Tweets
You can hide tweets in one of two ways.
- Using the Hide button.
i. Hover the mouse pointer over the message you want to hide and click Hide.
- Using the Slipstream panel.
i. On the toolbar, click the Slipstream icon.
ii. In the panel that opens up, click Hide Some Tweets.
iii. Apply the desired filter criteria for feeds you want to hide and click Save.
And the job is done. You can always edit or delete your filters and update the information you want to keep hidden using the Slipstream panel.
Limitations of Slipstream
Slipstream is in currently in beta and is available only for Google chrome browsers. You can get notified when Slipstream is available for other browsers by submitting your email address to the Slipstream team.
Conclusion
Slipstream is the perfect tool to eliminate the concept of failed filters. It takes up very little of the browser space, and delivers only content that is relevant and meaningful to you. So go ahead and give it a try. Share your thoughts and let us know if you think Slipstream will be a success story.
This is really great stuff, very helpful for user who follows many people.
Slipstream founder here. Thanks for spreading the word! Would love to hear feedback if you have any more: feedback@slipstre.am or @slipstre_am on Twitter.