NodeXL

What do you like best?

With NodeXL, you can import social data from a variety of sources (I use mostly for Twitter search data), and, in the same tool, analyze the data and create social network visualizations.

I like the fact that it has everything in one space - it import the data to an Excel spreadsheet and you can analyze the date using the plugin. You can also add your own data (import from other sources, or type it in as a spreadsheet) and use it only to analyze social data / create visualizations.

What do you dislike?

I removed one point because it is not supported on Excel for Mac - I have to run Windows on a virtual machine to get access to the plugin, which makes my machine a little bit slower than ideal.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

Use the trial and see if you can get used to the tool.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

It helps a lot with social network analysis for Twitter events, and also brand centered networks.