Okay, it has a stupid name. At first blush, Twitter also seems less compelling than some other social-networking sites, especially for those with average Internet needs. Yet, for others bright enough to figure out a use for it, Twitter becomes indispensable, and fairly fast.
I, for one, can't imagine living without it now. Twitter works for me for many reasons. First, I find it useful because of the environment in which I live. An urban area provides many contacts but individuals who live there may need to pinpoint specific information. Twitter allows me to more more seamlessly connect with the local news of my area. More than that, the stream of 140-character snippets often contains links of interest. To be honest, much of what my friends say on Facebook is of very little consequence to me. I can use Twitter to search out areas of interest and things I want to know. Also, as it happens in real time, it makes for an excellent means to keep up on official and unofficial news. I'm just as likely to learn about international developments via the service as what's happening down the street. I don't know if I'm any indication, but I don't like to like things on Facebook as I want my wall to be just interpersonal communication and not someone trying to sell me something. On the other hand, I follow many businesses on Twitter just to stay informed.
Most importantly, Twitter can be a place of nearly instantaneous action. For example today, I feel as though I shone a lot more focus on finding out why Walmart flyers aren't arriving in the local paper by tweeting, than when I tried to phone the store itself. Any business worth their salt is curious and attentive to how their name is being used on Twitter. I mentioned the names of the newspapers and had an initial response within seconds.
