Like blogs before it, Twitter is “the next big thing” from the Internet and most people who aren’t massive Internet users have no idea what it is. And like blogs what it does is hard to explain. With blogs, and with Twitter, it’s a tool. The fun and helpfulness comes from how you use it.

The basics are you create an account and start following other people, friends who have accounts, celebrities, businesses, etc. You then receive their posts in your Twitter feed. Some of them follow you back and they receive your posts, or tweets. You can tell the world how much you liked a movie or advertise the car you’re selling. You can have conversations with other Twitter users and anyone else can jump in. There is also a private messaging function for things you don’t want in the public domain.

There are a myriad of ways to use twitter. Street vendors in San Francisco post where they will set up daily. Layer Tennis is a design competition that tweets when new entries are posted. Many people post when they add new posts to their blogs. Some websites use it to directly communicate with their audience. I use it daily for discussions with my friends. We often plan get-togethers with it. I also find it useful for keeping up with the general news in the world as well as interest-specific news. Sounds a lot like blogs. Part of the popularity of Twitter is that it is very easy for fast short updates where full blog posts feel like too much work or too formal.

It can be a great networking tool as well as a fun time-waster. Businesses search for their names and communicate with customers who have problems, bloggers advertise new posts, I have my twitters posted on my website so there is always fresh content. There is a great article on getting started with Twitter on ProBlogger.

Like blogs before it, the only way to really understand Twitter is to use it. Search for a topic and read what other people are saying. Then create your own account and start talking too.