My friend Jennifer Laycock suggested an article today that I am glad I checked out called “Twitter Guide Part #1” written by a blogging newcomer by the name of Caroline Middlebrook. It is a useful guide for an increasingly popular social property located at www.twitter.com.

Twitter has become so popular that it has, by its own nature, become a verb; “twittering” or “tweeting” is the act of ‘telling’ the world what you are doing at any given moment via instant messaging, mobile texting, or emailing.

When I first heard of Twitter I had much the same reaction as many of my friends and colleagues… “why would I want to send meaningless notes about my daily activities on a regular basis? It seems not only invasive but a waste of time and energy.” Well I have to say that my reaction was more likely the result of social media startup overload than having put much thought into the marketing aspects of such a utility. The fact is that Twitter has become quite a marketing tool that is worth using if you are up to the task; I started using it today.

So how is Twitter a marketing tool? Well Jennifer Laycock noted a great example – CNN. CNN uses Twitter to publish news stories as they occur so that their Twitter community can be in touch with the latest events; a powerful tool for building and maintaining credibility. From my standpoint I plan on using Twitter to tell all which articles I find most interesting throughout my day and to perhaps post quick tips or links to articles we just posted on our blog. The trick to remember is that Twitter only allows 140 characters per ‘tweet’ so you have to be short and sweet; tweeting or twittering is aptly described as micro-blogging.

If you would like to learn more about Twitter then check out Caroline’s Twitter Guide – it is a great introduction.

If you happen to signup for Twitter find me and join my community if you wish. I plan on having a lot of fun with it from now on 🙂