Do You Twitter?

If you have been hearing some of your friends talking about "twittering" and not known what the heck they were talking about, here's a little rundown.

Twitter can best be described as a micro-blog. It allows you to make posts that are viewable to everyone at the URL for your account. For example, the URL for my Twitter is

http://twitter.com/tonyedwards

Twitter posts (also called "Tweets") are limited to 140 characters, only enough room for a sentence or two. Consequently, the content of the posts are of a stream-of-life nature, not unlike "What are you doing now" on FaceBook.

What makes Twitter unique is it's follow/following aspect. Let's say that I have just signed up and I know that my friend is also on Twitter. Let's call her Tanja. I search Twitter and find her. I then "follow" her; whenever she posts a tweet, I see it on my page. So, when she writes, "Hey, I just found this great new site!" or "Hey, I just ate a grilled cheese sandwich!", I see the tweet and can respond to it if I want. Tanja can follow me as well.

If I click on Tanja's profile, I see a list of all of the people that Tanja is following and who is following her. If I know them, or just want to know what they are up to, I can follow them as well.

Tweets come not only from individuals, but from any entity that wants to put their info out there. For instance, I follow the Los Angeles Fire Department and receive information about what incidents they are responding to ("Hmm, I wonder who's Twittering today. Oh noes! My house is on fire!). Websites like MacDailyNews and Digg are on Twitter as well.

You can also Twitter from your phone, making it easy to report what in the world is going on to all of your followers.

Try Twitter out. It's free.