Dear Twitterphiles …

Wow, no comments yet from the Twitterverse, Raina - I'm shocked! I'm older than you and still fairly new at Twitter. But here are some of the more compelling reasons why I think good tweeters tweet. To make new connections. They don't really use Twitter to keep in touch with their IRL friends - they already do that on FB and AIM and email and in person. Twitter removes the gatekeeper from companies and thought leaders all over, and allows you a glimpse into what they're doing, writing about, thinking about. Sometimes it's even interesting. People tweet from conferences and if you can't make it to the conference but would have like to, you can get the real-time reader's digest version of what occurred. Tweeters also clue you in to interesting news stories (mostly abuot social networking and Twitter, but I've gotten great advice about how to best use my iphone, and what new technologies are coming down the pike - faster than I would have found out if I had tried to discover it on my own. The secret to Twitter is first finding interesting people to follow. You can search on twitter for topics that interest you and see who's tweeting about it and follow them. There are even Twitter appls that can help hook you up with people you might best want to follow. Spend 10 minutes each day finding and following savvy and interesting tweeters and you may find it interesting and useful. Or not. Enjoy! Tracey (@newsucnuse on twitter)