Microblogging

When I first heard the term microblogging, I thought "Micro what?"
I had heard of blogging, but this new term did not register with me.

Isn't it amazing how you just barely get up to speed with one thing,
and all of a sudden... Here comes something new!

Have You Heard of Twitter Yet?

This new phenomenon in online communication is well worth your attention, because you can now get the latest news -- uncensored and released with split second delivery.

You get the "skinny" on any topic from people who are on location and experiencing events in real time.

As I write this, I am reflecting on how fast the news hit the web regarding an earthquake in Los Angeles.

I went to http://search.twitter.com and typed in one simple keyword "earthquake."

In an instant, the results rolled in at the pace of approximately 50 new "tweets" (Twitter lingo for updates) per refresh!

Every time I hit my "F5" key to refresh the screen...another 50 to 75 updates just kept rolling in.

Wow!

In an instant, I knew that the epicenter was in Chino Hills, California. I also knew that it was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale. Other tweets noted that cell phones were temporarily out of service.

This brings us to two aspects of microblogging. The "micro" in refers to two things:(1) Brevity and (2) Speed!

Brevity: Because you are limited to just a few characters when you post an update.

Speed: Because the updates are posted instantly!

The details just kept rolling in from real people just like you.

Twitter is free to join, and you can even get your own personal page.

But one of the best things about this service is that it makes it so easy for you to follow your family, friends, business associates and other people of interest.