When I first learned of twitter, the service that allows you to broadcast little 140 character messages about whatever you are doing at the moment, my thought was, "Why?" As you can see from the right side of this page, I became a convert and even rigged up a widget on this blog to broadcast the microdetails of my life...and still, a reasonable person should ask, "Why?"

There has been a burst of blogging activity in the past few days/weeks about the newfound virtues of twitter...Meg Roberts, one of the bloggers at Brazen Careerist, writes an good overview with links to more info and good comments that got me started a few days ago. So rather than rehash all that, let me illustrate my twitter experience for those who are wondering what possible value there could be in this.

I signed up and started broadcasting personal updates of my life using my cool new work-provided smartphone. I started following Guy Kawasaki because I've been reading his How to Change the World blog for a long time and knew he was an early adopter of twitter. I then friended Barack Obama because I support him and he's into practically everything online. I sent an email to my coworkers daring them to join me in this experiment...

I quickly noticed that Guy Kawasaki is not posting just the mundane details of his life--he's posting links to websites, other blogs, ideas. I started following some other topical uses like Pete Cashmore of mashable.com and Darren Rowse of problogger...and a pattern begin to emerge. Twitter can be like a stock ticker for social media. When you follow "thought leaders" in this area, you get a concise, mini-newsfeed.

I thought about following CNN Breaking News--a traditional newsfeed...but decided it was really irrelevant to me. Twitter is not just a breaking news feed; it is microblogging, where the challenge is to post something in 140 characters or less that is compelling, interesting, and valuable to your "followers." I can follow people I find interesting, not topics or media outlets. That makes it more relevant to me personally because, at some level, these are people I trust, at least to have an interesting opinion.

I started checking twitter from my mobile phone while I was commuting to work, walking to lunch, etc. and felt more connected and informed because I had an immediate connection to what was going on. Last week, it was all about SXSW, the big music and media conference in Austin, TX. It made me envious to observe all these bloggers twittering about what they were thinking during the conference--and the little details of life--like Guy Kawasaki dropping and breaking his digital camera while laughing at dinner with a group including Penelope Trunk and others--added a context that reminded me there is a people community out there--it's not just about business and technology. It's fun to be a part of that crowd. It's fun to work with people who share your passion for innovation and are throwing themselves into trying new things and learning constantly. It would be nice to get that at work, but realistically, at work, people are busy with the specific details of projects and it can't be a nonstop party...so you "find your tribe" in other ways...that is the whole essence of the compelling value of social networking.

So back to twittering...and an illustration of the power of immediacy (not something my marathon blog posts promote, I'm afraid): Last night, I'm holding newborn baby Marshall b/c he will not stay asleep in a bouncer or swing. Rather than watch TV, I have the mobile phone open, browsing my Google Reader news feeds and twitter. I toss a few updates out to twitter and then notice Guy Kawasaki requesting suggestions for links to a new "Life" category on his AllTop reference site. I click on the link and email him a short note about this blog. He emails back and says, cool, he'll include it.

I don't see the category on his site yet and maybe, when he reads this blog, he'll have second thoughts about its relevance...but it's an opportunity (getting a link from a major site like that) I was able to seize because of information I would not have had without twitter.

The frequent updates from mashable and problogger have given me information I use at work to promote ideas I have about what we should be doing with our business. It is absolutely imperative, to be influential and successful in the web/media space, to be connected to the people who are "thought leaders." Those connections lead to opportunities and feed back on themselves. And ultimately, your influence depends on your own "giving back," so I need to make my own "tweets" a little more substantive than updates on the baby feeding schedule...but it is all part of life and part of the authenticity of the web that is what makes people passionate about the whole experience. It is a world that did not exist a few years ago.

Twitter is not a "killer app." It might fade away next month or seem less relevant to me. That's kind of what happened with Facebook for me, although I still use it and have hopes for it...But for now, twitter is easy and powerful. Come follow me! :) OK, that sounds a little weird...what the heck, just do it!