Is Twitter much ado about nothing – the pet rock of the Internet world? In case you have been living under your pet rock, Twitter is a free online social messaging service that connects people in real time. It asks one question – “What are you doing?” The answers, called “tweets” must be under 140 characters in length. Tweets can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web to your friends who are referred to as followers.

Twitter has been described in many different ways, depending on who you ask – micro-blogging and social messaging are the two most common descriptors. Personally I just find it a take off of IM (instant message). The fact that a tweet can only contain a maximum of 140 characters is what the pundits are attributing to its vast amount of followers. People are reportedly fatigued by email and IM. Tweets can be sent using the Twitter website directly, as a single SMS alert, or via a third-party application such as Twirl, Snitter, or the Twitterfox add-on for Firefox, making it an attractive option to as many people as possible. Everyone is getting into the act including Oprah and some heads of state, but now they are finding out that many of the rich and famous who are reportedly tweeting are not tweeting at all. They are far too busy for such mundane activities and have hired personal assistants to tweet for them. So much for the personal touch!

From a personal perspective, I don’t understand the appeal. I feel connected enough without Twitter. It’s just another distraction and another network that needs to be tended. I find that we spend way too much time and effort trying to connect online in real time when the old fashioned telephone has always given us the ability to connect in real time in a way that I find much more human and meaningful.