Get up to date with Twitter trends and topics with Tweetgrid

By now, most of you who are into blogging, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook or simply having an active online life know what Twitter is. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. It has taken off to be one of the most popular social networking tools recently.

There are many desktop clients you can use to enjoy Twitter including Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Tweetie, OpenBeak (formerly Twitterberry), among others. You can also send and read tweets from the web. But have you heard of Tweetgrid?

Tweetgrid, a web-based dashboard that allows you to search and view up to nine different hashtags at once. It enables users to watch conversations instantly, in real time. Unlike other Twitter chat tools, you do not need a Twitter account to follow a conversation but you will not be able to tweet without a Twitter account. Each box is given a custom search term and you can adjust the panels from real-time updates to updating on timed intervals.

Here’s an example of a 1×3 grid in which I created and used to search for “iPhone” on the left grid, “Snow Leopard” on the center and “Windows 7″ on the right grid. (click on the image to enlarge)

Voila! I’m updated with what others have to say about these three topics. The flow of conversation around the world (I can even see the tweets in Japanese!) is fast but you can always hit the stop and search buttons above the columns if the tweets are moving too fast for you to reply.

Tweetgrid is a very useful tool not only for individuals who like to follow hot trending topics. Twitter has since changed from just a place to share irrelevant blahs like what you had for breakfast; more and more companies are joining Twitter to penetrate the market – to interact with consumers/buyers directly or know what’s on their minds.

For those using Twitter for business, it’s important to note that people will talk about your company and brand; the question is, are you listening?