First a quick recap on the details. Twitter is a micro blog service that restricts posts to 140 characters in length (that includes spaces and punctuation). Think of it as freeform haiku. Think of it as the Facebook status update, minus all the other Facebook distractions. 

What makes Twitter useful and interesting is the ability to follow other people twittering away using your computer or mobile device. Once you sign up, create an account and start tweeting you are able to connect with an audience of fellow tweeps. News organizations (everything from CNN to the Vancouver Sun) offers news updates via tweet. But more than that Twitter is social.

Twitter is elegant and simple. It's an easy way to delve into social media without having to commit to writing a blog, or being a particularly skilled writer. You can follow folks and simply lurk in the background. If you want you can reply or direct message Twitter pals. Or you can tweet away at all hours to create your own twitterscape.

What I've come to love about Twitter is the ability to follow the Zeitgeist in real time. You can easily stay on top of who's writing what, when and where. With Twitter you can easily post links to interesting articles, blog posts, and other twitter posts (retweets) that point you find relevant and interesting. By following Twitter friends you suddenly have access to some really interesting people and perspectives. 

Can you use Twitter for business? Absolutely? Is there a magic bullet solution to start generating leads and revenue with Twitter? Not that I have found.

I'm not sure what if any long term impact Twitter will have on my attention span, but for now I am still able to carry on conversations beyond the 140 character limit, on and offline.

Here's a great post I found that makes the case for Twitter in the educational setting. It lays out some interesting possibilities on how to apply Twitter to the classroom environment. 

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