Introduction

Welcome to Twitter, the Social Networking site that was called “utterly devoid of any sort of merit” by New Zealand Herald’s Canvas Magazine, (June 6, 2009) in the same week it appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine as “a powerful form of communication” and “the future of American innovation.” This lynchpin of the Social Media movement is loved by many, scrutinized by others; but in a nutshell, Twitter is a combination of instant messengers’ immediacy, blogging’s swiftness and spontaneity in reaching many with a message, and VoIP’s capability to share and exchange media, and it does all this with a caveat that you must do this in 140 characters or less. This built-in limitation is your safeguard from Twitter becoming a timesink and a distraction. All these things have contributed to its incredible popularity and continue to make it all the talk both online and out in the real world.

This book explores what’s out there, how to make it work, and gets you up and “tweeting” in record time.