Folks who are unhappy with TweetDeck's decision to eliminate support for LinkedIn should take a look at Sobees Desktop. This slick-looking application offers an easy way to manage Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. Still in beta, this "social media manager" still has some kinks to work out, but shows plenty of potential.

What you can't do is devote more than one area of the layout (whether it's a column or a box) to the same social media account. You can place your Twitter account in only one area, and the same with your accounts on Facebook account and LinkedIn. That means you can't view different types of information from that one account--such as Twitter @replies and direct messages--side by side. Sobees does include icons that make it easy to switch between these views, but rival TweetDeck lets you view them at the same time, in neighboring columns.

Sobees makes it easy to update your status across one or more of the networks at the same time, and includes tools that allow you to search Twitter. In addition, Sobees points you in the direction of trending topics on Twitter.

Like TweetDeck, Sobees Desktop has a Web-based counterpart. But unlike TweetDeck's two versions, which sync with one another, the two Sobees social media clients are standalone products, with no syncing features. A connection between them would be nice. (The company also offers a host of mobile apps, including sobees Lite and sobees MyFriends for iOS, which focus on Facebook; sobees Social Media, an iPad app that handles Twitter and Facebook; and an Android application called sobees for Twitter/Facebook. None of the mobile apps offer the support for multiple social media services offered by Sobees Desktop and its Web-based counterpart.) Overall, Sobees Desktop is off to a good start. This is an easy-to-use social media manager that offers plenty of customization options.

--Liane Cassavoy