Do You TWITTER?

One of my BBFFs (best blogging friends forever) has been Twittering for months now. I can remember when she started using this new tool, thinking, "Why is she doing that? I know she has more than enough to do in her regular life as a Mom, a marketing professional, and a blogger." But, she's more forward thinking than I and today she is a great twitterer... if that's word.

Now, I've got the bug. I started Twittering a week or so ago... just little notes in my Twitter account, then... as more and more of my online connections started "following" me, and as I started "following" them...I got Twitter religion.

For those not in the know, Twitter is another social networking tool. It's similar to IM, except that it opens you to a whole group of people, twittering away. The conversations range from mundane "gotta go eat my waffles now," to, "how can *insert political figure here* say whatever he or she said."

Until I began Twittering - really following conversations and contributing my comments - I thought this was another silly platform for wasting time. But...it's not. Much like the other social media tools we  use, today, it's a peek inside the hearts and minds of friends, relatives, and members of your overall social community. Twitter lets you 'talk' to whole groups, as opposed to having Instant Messenger open and communicating with several friends all at once, each in its own little IM window. (today I started following John Edwards, and...got an email saying he's now following me, too! 'Following' just means he's watching what I write, and vice-versa.)

Twitter is still new, still evolving, as are many of the social media tools out there, like Facebook, Myspace, and half a dozen others (seems like I get an invite to a new social networking tool, weekly). With Twitter, you control the flow of your conversation. You can 'eavesdrop' by just reading what everyone else is writing but not replying. That's not a bad way to get information - your network is very well aware that anyone they are connected to, and some people they aren't, might be watching. Not a lot different than standing in a crowded coffee shop and carrying on a conversation. No wonder John Edwards is twittering.

I'll keep twittering and see what else I can find out about it, uncover the hidden secrets, if there are any. For now, I'm having fun talking - to all my Facebook friends, my blogger friends, and some new people I just met. Hey, come on board! You never know if we're talking about you... or about your company. Unless you tune in.