Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media sites on the internet.

The free service is very simple:  users access Twitter from a computer or cell phone and post short messages (less than 140 characters) called tweets to a network of users.  Twitter account profiles can be marked private or public. Users can follow other users, receiving those users’ tweets whenever a tweet is posted.

Twitter Users: According to Wikipedia, as of July 2008 there were 2,200,000 registered Twitter accounts.  To locate users, enter their name or a location in the Twitter search bar to view a list of profiles.

Who’s on Twitter?  Barack Obama has 59,523 followers and will follow you back (sorry, John McCain isn’t on Twitter) or search the Top 100 followed users, Top 100 followers, or other Top Twitterers lists at TwitDir to find Twitterers across a broad spectrum of backgrounds. <

Dallas on Twitter: A search for “Dallas” on Twitter returns approximately 1200 users.  Dallasites on the Top 100 list include:

♦ Cali Lewis at 16th with 17,773 followers
♦ Bloggers Blog at 35 with 14,756 followers
♦ Woot at 41 with 13,022 followers

Dallas businesses on Twitter include Southwest Airlines, Dallas Morning News, and The Dallas Stars.

Twitter Business Use:  Many businesses, such as Dell, Whole Foods, Starbucks, AT&T and Jet Blue, have found Twitter to be a useful communication tool and a marketing and PR engine.  A user group from TI, self-named the Texas Instruments Tweeple, is a great example of a business collaboration use of Twitter.

Getting started: Setting up a Twitter account in simple and free.

To customize a profile page, go to the Design tab under Settings to upload a background and customize text colors. 

Once you are up and running, get the most out of Twitter with the Mashable list of Twitter Tools listing over 140 Twitter tools.

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