What is Twitter?
Every month, 1,600 New Zealanders type “what is twitter?” into google.
monthly, 1,600 New Zealanders ask google about twitter
Twitter is a micro-blogger. In less than 140 characters, you can publish something about yourself to your Twitter feed. Your item is then viewable by your Twitter followers: those who subscribe to your feed.
The usable_brand twitter homepage
Twitter is almost too simple. So, it gets our usability tick of approval. You can only do a few things on their website:
- Twit about yourself in less than 140 characters
- Publish it
- Follow a fellow Twitterer
- Read their stuff in your personal feed
- Direct message and/or reply to a fellow Twitterer
So, you ask, what’s the big deal?
Well, the way I see it, people are generally far too busy to read things. Twitter forces conciseness: allowing only a quick, bite-size share on what you are doing at the moment. People love quick and bite-size. And the networking possibilities are tremendous.
How many Twitter users are there?
As of August 2008, twitter has an estimated 200,000 users per week; sending 3 million messages per day! And Twitter is rapidly gaining in popularity.
twitter.com traffic details from alexa.com
So, get on board! Follow people who interest you. People who are interested in your Tweets will also follow you. Soon enough, you will be addicted like I am.
Your business will do better, too, because people who are truly interested in your expertise will get to know you, and look you up when they need your services. That’s how it works for us, anyhow 
Also see my 2 minute video primer all about Twitter.
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