Why I Love Twitter

If you care what I think, you know that Twitter is just about the best way to learn what I'm paying attention to. I pass along tidbits of O'Reilly news, interesting reading from mailing lists and blogs I follow, and of course, tidbits from the twitterers I'm following. These are all the things I could never find time to put on my blog, but that I spray via email like a firehose at editors, conference planners, and researchers within O'Reilly. A lot of my job is, as we say, "redistributing the future" - following interesting people, and passing on what I learn to others. And twitter is an awesome tool for doing just that.
Like a lot of people, I tried out Twitter early on, but didn't stick to it. Most of the early twitter conversation was personal, and I didn't have time for it. I came back when I noticed that about 5000 people were following my non-existent updates, waiting for me to say something. With that many listeners, I thought I'd better oblige. (There are now close to 16,000.) I soon realized that Twitter has grown up to become a critical business tool, ideal for following the latest news, tracking the ideas and whereabouts of people who will shape the future of technology, and sharing my own thoughts and attention stream.
I thought I should outline here some of the specific things I find so compelling about Twitter, with suggestions about architectural features to be emulated by other internet services. (via rwaux)

	How Should Journalists Use Twitter?	Columbia Journalism Review	Tue Dec 2	0
	Microblogs and the evolution of news events: Twitter and its role in reporting the terror in Mumbai	johnr1uk	Mon Dec 1	1
	Mumbai: Twitter's Moment: Citizen journalism goes real time as Mumbai attacks unfold.	Forbes	Mon Dec 1	6
	Facebook gave no warning regarding deactivation	TypePad.com	Mon Dec 1	0