Andy Kaufman and Brad Coy presented and demonstrated Twitter, the numerous applications available to enhance your Twitter experience and how to use it all at the BHB Unchained Conference on May 20, 2008. 

What is Twitter?

• A microblogging platform that asks the question..."What are you doing now?"
• A communication channel and social network
• You post to Twitter in 140 characters or less via your mobile phone or the web
• It's text messaging, instant messaging, and email rolled into one service that allows you to communicate instantly with a group
• A potential addiction and time-waster or a unique way to stay in touch with family, friends, current and prospective business clients?  Only you can decide that one!

The answer to that controversial question depends on several things, among them:

• Are you comfortable with the platform?
• Do you have clients or friends who use Twitter as a preferred communication method?
• Can you find the balance of following members in your group and what they are doing at the moment and "Tweeting" or posting a comment about what you are doing and the rest of your daily life?

I setup my Twitter account over a year ago when I attended the Real Connect conference in San Francisco.  I posted 2 times to it and was reintroduced to Twitter this past weekend at Unchained with Brad and Andy.  For me, I see the potential benefits to connecting with others and building my online social network.   I just have to find that elusive balance...

Twitter can be an incredibly effective platform to:

• Connect and communicate with a group for a specific event, function or gathering. 
• An impromptu or planned get together or meet-up.  Several people have shared stories with me of putting together a meet-up using Twitter - for business or social reasons.
• Stay connected with a client and their group of friends during the buying or selling process.
• Connect with potential clients by simply participating in the online social networking world.

There are numerous desktop Twitter applications or clients popping up - additional services to enhance your Twitter experience.  Here are just a few:

• Twirhl - monitor and post to your feed with this desktop client
• Tweetscan - a real-time search engine for Twitter
• Twemes - use the hashtag (#) to follow a live event, conference or group event
• Twitpic - let's you share photos on Twitter

If you really become a Twitter fan, you can create a widget and post your live Twitter feed on your blog or website to encourage visitors to follow you.

Here are some useful posts I've read researching the whole Twitter phenomenon:

Tweeting for Companies 101 - great post about "why Twitter, stuff to tweet about, how to talk Twitter" 

12 Reasons to Start Twittering - from Michael Hyatt of "Where I Sit"

Twitter Fan Wiki = lots of useful information on Twitter, applications

Pat Kitano of TransparentRE.com has several recent blog posts about Twitter - check out:
How to fully participate in the Twitter conversation in only 30 minutes

To Tweet or Not Tweet...now that's the question.  Hope this post can help you find your individual answer.

Enjoy this short, simple explanation video on You Tube  "Twitter in Plain English " 

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