I get this question a lot.
I usually give a pretty simple answer: “It’s a very easy to use micro blogging service.” Most of the time people will respond by pointing out that Facebook does the same thing with status updates, albeit in a larger, stalk-ier, complex package (I would like to point out that it seems quite a few people who use Twitter are not avid Facebook users).
It’s nearly inevitable that Twitter’s the next big thing: check out this graph on Quantcast. They average almost 4.1 million people users per month in the US alone. It’s a meme in pop culture. Heck, I’ve seen it mentioned on the news twice in the last week. Twitter has tipped. And most of you too, will use it eventually if you’re not already.
Much of it’s main appeal is in its sheer simplicity and structure. In a way, it’s like reading a newspaper for the headlines, only in this case it’s your friend’s headlines. And with the endless stream of Twitter apps (I use Tweetie and TwitterBar) in all flavors of OS plus an open API, it’s integration into everyday life has become more prevalent.
Now if they could only figure out how to keep the thing running more consistently (it’s down as I type this) and figure out how to make some money, they’d be set.
microblogging is really useful when you want to broadcast short updates. i am still leaning towards traditional blogging.’*,