So I said awhile back that I finally joined Twitter. And I can now officially say Twitter is very handy…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Here’s what I think about Twitter:

Instant Updates in Real Time Rock

Twitter allows for instant communication, across the entire spectrum of the online and offline worlds, in real time. That said, its not technically a social network, its a micro-blogging tool. However, what people DO on Twitter is defined by networking: they meet people and keep in touch with colleagues or friends.

Its Short, Sweet and to the Point

Twitter has a 140 character limit. Some might hate this, I love it. There’s too much fluff already and Twitter nicely makes you get to the point. If you want to say more, write in your blog then link to it via Twitter. Its better for your site anyways.

Its Easy to Meet People and Network

There are several ways (and more!) this can work.

1) You follow someone and they follow you back, then you say thanks, or they do, and you take the convo from there.

2) You reply to a question or comment on a blog post and start the conversation.

3) You virtually wave your hands in the air and jump up and down hoping someone will notice.

I don’t have to tell you which of these methods works best; try them out for yourself and you’ll find out soon enough.

Its Sort of Unreliable

While Twitter has proved very handy and a great way to network and talk with people, downtime has capped its usefulness. Now, for me personally the downtime is an annoyance rather than a hindrance, but for others the downtime is a serious problem.

If They Don’t Shape Up…They’ll Fade Away. Or just stay and languish.

Lots of people have started migrating to sites like FriendFeed, Pownce and Plurk, to name a few, beacuse of problems with Twitter. I’ll be doing similar blurbs for the sites above too, so stay tuned:).

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