Twitter: What it is and why you should know (and how to find us); "Twitter Power"

In the past year, Twitter has gone from an obscure Silicon Valley start-up to the thing that everyone is doing. In the March 3rd edition of the Los Angeles Times, Twitter dominated the political coverage Capitol Hill's a-Twitter about network site" and the Business section had this front cover story "Cut! Actors take five to Twitter their fans".

What is Twitter?

It is one of the fastest-growing online services logging 2.6 million U.S. Web users in January, up sharply from only 178,000 in Jan 08.

Twitter allows you to send short messages (no more than 140 characters) to "followers", who view them on a website or on their cellphones.

Twitter's owners reportedly turned down a $500-million buyout offer from social networking giant Facebook Inc. in November and instead closed a $35-million round of venture capital funding last month.

John McCain says he "Tweets" before and after every speech to over 120,000 "followers".

Felicia Day, an actress who has appeared on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has more than 131,000 Twitter followers and says it's "the best way to interact with a large audience."

Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a regular Twitterer. "Using Twitter to bypass traditional media and directly reach voters is definitely a good thing."

"Heros" start Brea Grant calls it "... an official time-passer on the set."

Even LifeTwo is on Twitter (http://twitter.com/lifetwo )

As the Time piece explains, Twitter allows the individual (whether that be a politician, actor or sports figure) to take some measure of control of their messaging:

Laura Roeder, a Los Angeles consultant who persuaded Grant to try Twitter, says too many actors allow fan sites or celebrity media to define them. She recommends that they use Twitter and other online tools to take ownership of their online identities and talk directly to their fans. "The more exploitative the celebrity press gets, the more Hollywood will realize this is needed."

According to the Times, Washington, like Hollywood, has become "obsessed" with Twitter. But what does Twitter mean to you if you are not an actor or politician? Should you use it? Absolutely and here's how.

First, signing up is easy and free. Just go to Twitter.com and enter in the requested information. Next, pick something to follow and we recommend you follow LifeTwo's Tweets. (http://twitter.com/lifetwo).

Next, we've got a book tip for you:

"Twitter Power" (by Joel Comm) has just come out and is quite up-to-date. It even includes references to how Twitter was used during the Mumbai terrorist attacks, which occurred just 90 days ago.

"Twitter Power" covers all of the basics of using Twitter and then digs deeper into the application. As Twitter evolves from a simple utility for keeping up with friends to an important social media tool for communicating one's message, having a comprehensive resource becomes more meaningful.

The book then explains how to leverage Twitter for whatever purpose you want to exploit social media (promoting your business, finding a job, or just making a lot of new friends). These tips range from picking the right user name to how to alter the generic Twitter template (and this is done in language that non-technical users will understand).

The most important part of the book addresses the most vexing part of using Twitter. How does one get people to read one's messages? In Twitter's vernacular this is phrased "How do you get followers for your Tweets"? The answer is surprisingly easy, you start by following everyone else. It's somewhat time consuming, not to mention tedious, and the book notes it can be improved by going after core followers (quality) over just quantity. You do this by finding experts in your particular area and doing what you can to get them to follow your Tweets.

Another tip that often takes Twitter users awhile to learn is how to search. You do this by going to a different URL (http://search.twitter.com), try it now and type in "LifeTwo". You'll see our Tweets and those of other Twitter users who have referenced us. On Twitter search you can search on any person or topic you are interested in.

"Twitter Power" is a very quick read (took me about two hours from cover-to-cover) and by the end you'll know as much as you need to fully exploit Twitter. As noted above, you can certainly use Twitter without first reading a book. However given the service's explosion of popularity as of late, I found it extremely convenient to have everything about it at my finger tips.

Let us know when you are on Twitter so we can follow your Tweets too.

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Update: you can also get to our Twitter page and follow LifeTwo by clicking on the Twitter logo in the right-hand column.