The tension of social media is its increasing influence combined with its sheer difficulty to manage. The proliferation of information makes it harder and harder to hone in on a person or topic for signals both weak and strong.  We were fans of the former Gist and, since its demise (thanks, um, Blackberry) have been looking for a replacement. We’ve found something that, while not perfect, certainly helps.

Cloze (iOS, Android) is an app that tries to aggregate and separate your inbox for both email and social feeds (twitter, facebook, linkedin,) so that you have one view of your relationships.  Be warned – this is a power app, and not for social media newbies. But it is also remarkably useful and powerful: segregate the people closest to you and see their email, tweets or profile updates all in one place. Place different people into lists so you can scan topics, or follow the apps algorithmic advice to find people with whom you are losing touch. Not for the casual user, but Cloze is a great tool to navigate the continuing waves of social relationships so you don’t end up beached.