To write this column each week, I straddle two worlds. The world of technology blogs and Internet culture, where new products are launched every day and fads come and go, and the world that many of you live in, where it can take a while for the next YouTube or Facebook to cross your radar screen.
To bridge that gap, I’m going to tell you about one thing that is hot online right now: Twitter. If nothing else, knowing about this service will impress your techie friends at parties.
Twitter (twitter.com) is a free service that lets users give family, friends and co-workers a minute- by-minute update on what the users are doing.
To use Twitter, you create an account and answer the question “What are you doing?” to update your status. You can answer that question via cellphone text message, instant message or the Web.
Updates, or “tweets,” are limited to 140 characters each and you can choose if you want your updates visible to the world.
Once you send an update, it is sent to everyone who is “following” you on Twitter. You choose the people you want to follow and the way you want to receive their tweets – by text message, instant message or only as an update to your online Twitter page.
Twitter also lets you send a message directly to another person that only the two of you can see.
Twitter updates can make you laugh, tell you something you didn’t now or just fill you in on what your friends are up to.
At first blush, Twitter may seem like a waste of time, and it sometimes can be. But I’ve found it can be more effective at reaching people and organizing social outings than sending an e-mail, making a phone call or sending a text message.
But Kayla Fleming, 23, said she’s starting to grow bored with Twitter. When Fleming signed up in February, she was sending out updates every hour. She has slowed down to about one update a day.
