Twitter

Do you tweet? If you don't, read on to find out why the world is a-twitter about Twitter.

Twitter is a social networking tool. In fact, it's not all that different from the ubiquitous Facebook. The concept behind Twitter is to help people feel connected (and slip a little marketing in. Why not?) Folks who "tweet", or send messages via Twitter, often comment on the little things that happen in life between phone calls and emails. Tweets are short updates, consisting of no more than 140 characters, about users' lives. Tweets look like blogs. Users can "follow" other users' tweets. Users can tweet through their computer or instant message through mobile phones.

Tweets represent a shift in the reporting of news as it happens. Years ago most of relied on news from newspapers, radio and TV reported by professional journalists. Nowadays, anyone can be a reporter. News about an event across town can be tweeted by eyewitnesses sans microphones, studio cameras, and other professional gear.

Twitter also features a search function, which organizes tweets to help users find people and specific information.

Twitter can identify trends by finding tweets that include certain words and phrases that are used frequently. Recently, are tons of tweets about the new Apple iPhone 4 and the problems users have been experiencing. Those tweets have been aggregated into a trend, a trend about the use and complaints regarding the iPhone4.