Twitter is undeniably useful as a standalone service, but it becomes so much more fun when you start factoring in all the cool tools and awesome apps available.

We’ve previously brought you various Twitter () visualization services, but now we’re taking a look at mapping tools that work with the microblogging site.

Whether you want to see where you’ve tweeted from in the past, what others around you are saying, or get a global overview of a hashtag, read on for some fun tools that can help.

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1. TrendsMap

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This service offers real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. They are displayed as hashtags, @mentions or keywords superimposed over a world map. You can click on any word to see a real-time stream of relevant tweets to, in the words of the site, “see what the global, collective mass of humanity are discussing right now.”

This is a really nice visual version of looking at Twitter’s trending topics but if you want to go into more detail, you can select to view trends from various cities, or focus in on a trending topic to see where in the world it’s being mentioned.

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2. Tweography ()

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The fantastically-named Tweography has an interesting function — it maps where your tweets have been sent from. If you have a geo-location-enabled Twitter account, you can sign in to see your tweets plotted on a map, which will probably be more interesting for jet-setters than anyone who stays within a few miles of home. If you’re signed into the service, you can do the same for other Twitter users’ recent tweets to see where they’ve been of late.

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3. TwitterMap.tv

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Similar to the excellent TwitterVision site, TwitterMap.tv gives you a real-time global view of tweets across the world. However, if you’d prefer to see region-specific tweets, you can head to TwitterMap.us for America or TwitterMap.eu for Europe.

All its sites work the same way. To use the service on its most basic setting, just hit “play” to see random tweets pop up across the map. There are also more advanced options. If you search via keyword, you can see all its related tweets play out automatically across the region map, or even narrow it down to a city. You can also search for a Twitter name to see all its mentions.

The service provides a nice level of detail — as tweets pop up, you can see the profile pic of the tweeter as well as basic info about him or her, such as location and follower/following counts.

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4. Stweet

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This experimental service mashes up Twitter with Google () Street View, providing a location-based look at neighborhood tweets. You can look at certain cities across the globe from the drop-down menu or enter a location into the search bar. Then just sit back and wait as the page reloads with tweets and Street Views (the satellite view pop up when street views are unavailable). It’s not a full-fledged offering just yet, but it’s worth a glance next time you’ve got a few spare minutes to explore.

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5. MMMeeja’s Twitter Google Map

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Ever wonder what your Twitter contacts look like mapped out? MMMeeja’s Google Maps mashup will show you the people you follow on Twitter (if they have supplied their locations) as points on a map. You can zoom in and hover over the pins to see who is where, which is quite fascinating if you haven’t thought of a particular person tweeting from a geographical context. The service is available as an embed, so you can add it to a blog, site, etc., to share with others.

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BONUS: Bing Local Twitter Trends Map

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And of course, don’t forget to check out Mashable’s Twitter Trends Map, powered by Bing (), that helps you discover the top 10 most tweeted terms in major cities — both in the U.S. and internationally.