I knew that Todd Carpenter's guest post was going to open a can of worms for me.  I spent a good part of yesterday fielding questions about "this Twitter".  I know I'm not the first to bring an explanation to the interweb, but it's going to save me from having to do it again.

Do you remember when you first grasped the idea of texting on your cell phone?

I remember thinking, "Who on Earth would waste their time doing such a thing?"
Now, texting has become such a part of my daily communications that I send and receive several hundreds of texts a month.

Initially, Twitter struck me exactly the same way.  However, now it is starting to become an integral part of the way that I 'feel' connected to my online network.

For the Newbie, Twitter is an Awkward Tool.

Short messages, describing what you are up to at the moment, published online, for the odd folk that care.
"Sitting in row KK, seat 32 at the A's vs Red Sox game."
"Just finished dinner at the Waffle House, here's a pic"
"Why am I still up?"
"At Starbucks by the Palace, join us!"
"just accidentally dropped my Treo in the toilet"

Some of the above are real and some are feigned, but you can’t tell which is which... which is the point.  Anything goes with a Twitter update - a Tweet if you will.

One of the reasons why a non-Twitterer may still not see the value and allure of Tweeting is because they can't see the need. 

Just as I couldn’t see the need to text, when I had a perfectly fine communication device in my hand called the phone.  Why take the time to type out a less than descriptive message to someone when I could just as easily ring them up for a chat?
If I wanted to type something to somebody, well, why not just send an email?

Twitter is not unlike the text message, but rather than use it to communicate to an individual or a specific group, it is a broadcast of your current state, to anyone who cares.

How Twitter Works:

Twitter asks you, "What are you doing?"
You type in a message no longer than 140 characters.
Fortunately, the message can include links, which help you expand your message by sending the reader to a website, image, podcast, blog article, etc.
Click "update" and the message is now broadcast for all those that care.

...CONTINUED

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Twitter Explained for the Real Estate Blogger

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