Twitter.com lets you post 140 character mini-blogs from your computer or mobile device and monitor those of your friends, professional colleagues or thought leaders who tend to share what they're reading or working on.
Yes, there are some people who Twitter what they're eating for lunch. Don't do that (unless you're a foodie and then it's ok and expected).
Simple rule: If you wouldn't want to read it, don't post it. To follow what we're doing at (W)right On Communications, there is www.twitter.com/juliewright and www.twitter.com/betsybrottlund. You simply visit the page and click to follow the Tweets of people who share your interests (you'll have to join and become a Twitterer before you can be a follower).
We find Twitter extremely useful. We enjoy scanning the Tweets of the people we're connected with through Twitter. But, as with LinkedIn, we're not just connected to the people following our Tweets but to their followers as well. You see, if something we Tweet catches our followers' interests, it could be reTweeted, posted to their blogs, and shared in many other ways -- thanks to the beauty of social networks.
But don't take our word for it. Read this article from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, written by the chief political correspondent for Slate:
Don't Fear Twitter
Using moment-by-moment observations, 'Twitter entries
build a community of readers who find their way to longer articles ….'By John Dickerson
If I were cleverer, this piece on Twitter and journalism would fit in Twitter's 140-character limitation. The beauty of Twitter when properly used — by both the reader and the writer — is that everyone knows what it is. No reader expects more from Twitter than it offers, and no one writing tries to shove more than necessary into a Twitter entry, which is sometimes called a Tweet, but not by me, thank you.
... For the rest, follow the link:http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/08-2NRsummer/p05-dickerson.html
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