Twitter is the insanely popular buzzword everywhere right now. But what is so great about Twitter?

It depends on what you want to get out of it.

Many people use Twitter to stalk celebrities. I’m sure that’s great, as far as it goes. I do follow some celebrities that I know won’t follow me back. (But not this one:)

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Many more people use Twitter to advertise their business. I have seen a lot of successful (to me) podcast novels launched using Twitter in combination with a lot of other intensive advertising. I know many other people who use Twitter in combination with Etsy to sell their handmade goods. Both of these have worked very well, from what I’ve observed. (Wanna buy my Etsy stuff?)

I would say that the main reason I personally use Twitter is to chat. It isn’t an IM but it has evolved to be pretty close to one, with the @ commands and direct messages. I originally started following podcasters, to tell them I liked their shows. But many of them have become closer acquaintances now. I’ve met them! Still, it’s not the same thing –  ”knowing someone via Twitter” does not make them a close personal friend, even if you do know their dog is sick and they got a latte for breakfast.

That being said, it is still a great way to form connections!

Far and away the most highly lauded app I have heard people speak of is Tweetdeck. I claimed I would research and talk about a bunch of applications people suggested, but it turns out I am too lazy. I will just say that this app turns your screen (though two monitors work even better) into columns of streaming Tweets that you can group by various topics/etc. Sounds useful to me!

I will also mention that the Twitter plugin I use with Firefox is called Twitbin. It sits in the bottom tray, and if you click it, it opens a slim column on the left of your browser, where you can watch/post/interact with your Twitter stream. And then close when you’re done. Very handy and simple.

But I have to go now – someone just Twittered that he was doing a live show on Ustream!

Tags: buzzword, geekery, jawbone radio, social networking, tweet, twitter, web 2.0