Addicted to Twitter

Tonight I had dinner with some fellow WOMMA board members in NYC.  I'm always impressed when I have a chance to meet with this group of people.  I got to have dinner with fellow Seattle-ite, Rod Brooks. 

Rod mentioned that he's been addicted to Twitter.  There are days I keep TweetDeck open on my screen, and watch the flow of comments coming in.  During E3 last week, I kept an active search for #xboxe3.  There are other times where I can go a week or two without logging in (although because i use ping.fm to update my Facebook status, it also sends my status out to Twitter, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, and MySpace, making me seem more present than I actually am). 

When I mentioned that there are times I only monitor Twitter occasionally, Rod said he didn't think he could go without it for too long.  In fact, during the meeting we were in, he pulled out his cell phone and asked a few questions we were discussing as a group, and shared a responses he'd gotten after only a few minutes.  Pretty useful, this whole "micro-blogging" thing.

For those that might still be struggling with how Twitter can be useful, there are a few ways it's useful.  TwitterMaven has a good list of links to find out more.  Here's my quick take: 

1. Twitter is a way to listen in on dozens of real-time conversations.  Want to know what people are saying about your product?  Start with Google (or Microsoft's bing!). Want to know what people are saying about your product *right now*?  Use search.twitter.com. 

2. Twitter is a great way to get messaging out to your community, and in some cases, your PR contacts.  Journalists will follow anyone who can help give them insight, and most are using Twitter. 
3. Twitter is a great way to take part in a conversation.  It's rare that when you ask your followers a question, they won't answer.  Even Ashton Kutcher will respond to intelligent questions from one of his 2.1 million followers.  How cool is that? 

Twitter might not be the cool new thing in a year.  But the concept of real-time multi-user, opt-in multi-participant, authentic, unfiltered conversations isn't going away. 

BTW, thanks, Oprah, for making Twitter a household name.