Twitter is my friend.

About a month ago, a sudden impulse compelled me to start using my previously-neglected Twitter account. Maybe it was my friends talking about it, maybe it was all the media attention, whatever. I started, and now I cant stop.

I think many people avoid Twitter because they don't understand it. Besides gambling, people only buy into things when they know what to expect in return. Twitter and the concept behind it can be overwhelming, but the difficult part of the learning curve is surprisingly short.

After about a month of tweeting, I've realized that the two most exciting things about Twitter, for me, are it's inherent functionality and it's casual concept.

I'm growing up. Work currently confines me to gray-walled cubicles for 40+ hours per week. I don't make the daily journey to campus anymore. I don't see nearly as many people in one day as I did when I was a student. It's not that I purposefully isolate myself - I'm just physically separated from my old environment. Anyway, my friends are still my friends, and Twitter helps me stay connected with them.

I currently follow 51 peeps, and they're all different. They all have taken at least slightly different approaches to the "Big T." Some describe what they are eating, some post useful links, some post funny links, some complain about their hangovers, some promote themselves or their business. My point here is that I love the variety, and I hope the Tweets on my homepage stay as diverse as they are today.

My current Twitter research involves its role in my photo business. I'm not sure how I'm going to pull it off, but like any small business owner/capitalist pig, I want to take advantage of Twitter to market and sell my photography service.

My advice for people who are where I was about a month ago: the only way you're going to understand Twitter is to sign up and start using it. Dive in.

Follow me: @johnnelson1

Thanks for reading!
John