So what exactly is Twitter?

Twitter is a social media service that describes itself as “a way for people to connect through a quick exchange of ideas”. The messages are referred to as tweets and they cannot be longer than 140 characters maximum and you can basically discuss anything that enters your mind. All the conversations start with the phrase “what are you doing”? But your messages don’t need to be only about what you are doing.

The messages that appear on Twitter can be seen by anyone who visits your page. Anybody who follows you will be able to read the messages you post. When they log into their own page, anything that you might have to say will show up there as a tweet.

You can also send private messages to people on Twitter who have chosen to follow you, and this is quite a useful tool for anyone involved in an internet based business.

The big advantage with a social network service like Twitter is that you can very quickly build up a network of contacts, and you can keep them up to date on all your business activities. You can post information that can be helpful to others and keep people entertained with any insights or tips you may have. If you want to get more visitors to your blog, you can post the links to your articles on Twitter. In fact whenever you update your blog you can automatically send a message to your Twitter followers that there is a new blog post for them to read.

An important point to remember though is that Twitter is actually a social media site, so don’t go overboard with self promotion. Just keep in mind that people apart from promoting their internet businesses are there to make friends and chat to others within the Twitter community.

If you spend too much time on self promotion you will very quickly lose whatever following you have built up.

It is very quick and easy to sign up for a Twitter account, all you need to do is log in to twitter.com, click on the Get Started – All you are required to do is complete the form online. Then just click on create my account and you are ready to begin tweeting.

Initially I would suggest that you begin building your network by finding Twitter users that you can follow. There is a “find people” button, click on that and you will be able to run a search for anyone that you know or may want to follow.

When you find someone you would like to follow, simply click on their name or avatar and click the “follow” button that will appear on the next page.

Many of the people who you choose to follow, will return the compliment and follow you back and before you know it you will have built up a list of followers. So the more people you follow the bigger and faster your network will grow. One point to remember is that you cannot add more than 200 new followers to your network in a day. If you want to have more than 2000 people following you, you will need to follow at least 2000 as well.

It is important to observe the rules listed above and as long as you do, you can build a large network of followers. But break the rules and you will be banned by Twitter. Twitter is a social networking site, but it is a great way to build your business as well.

The rest is here:
Japan adds Twitter to the list of internet services banned in …

Twitter’s attracts all kinds. You’ll find famous actors as well as your average citizen in small town USA. There’s writers, designers, small business owners, big corporations , and even the leader of the free world had a team of Internet savvy supporters that used Twitter as part of the massive campaign that led him to win the 2008 election.  If Barack Obama encourages Twitter, then you might want to check it out.

So, What Makes twitter So Popular?

The funny thing about twitter is, at least at this point, it’s popularity is a huge part of what makes it popular!  When you have a social site with over 6 million users, including large TV networks, the President Of The United States (indirectly), you know it’s beywond “catching on”.

When something is this viral already and then gets major mainstream attention, then it becomes THE place to connect with people, and like it or not, that’s what it is fast becoming.

Before the current hype though, Twitter gained it’s initial popularity from solid features that were new, exciting, and worked well in today’s fast forward digital lifestyle.  Everything constantly needs to be faster and easier, and Twitter delivered that with micro-blogging.

Humans thrive on relationships and interaction with each other, and Twitter created the ability to do that in real time at an extremely fast pace. In addition to the speed, Twitter also makes it possible to make the connection with your friends and followers at any given time. It’s not just for marketing either. Let’s say you’re working late and you  have trouble with an application you are using. Jump on Twitter and post for help. Often, depending on your number of followers, you can have a solution to your problem from a friendly follower in a matter of minutes.

Twitter is also extremely addictive which adds to it’s popularity and viral movement. If everyone you know is “on Twitter” whenever you asked them what they’re doing, then you feel obligated to try it out. Just don’t let yourself get too addicted!