Most of you have probably heard of twitter. It’s been plastered all over the news – celebrities using it, politicians using it, jurors tweeting during trials, basketplayers tweeting during halftime, people losing their jobs over it, yada, yada.

Some of you may even be twitterers. I am a twitterer – my username is cindyoyo.  I’m not sure now how I came up with that name. I had decided to sign up for twitter to see what it was all about, but didn’t think I’d really use it, so I didn’t put much thought into a username. I did try using cindyo (since my name is Cindy O’Something), but it was already in use.

Most people liken twitter to a huge cocktail party. Everyone there is milling about hearing snippets of conversations. Since it is a cocktail party and you are suppose to mingle, you may hear someone talk about something that interests you and you stop there and chime in with your thoughts about the subject.  And, then, if they drift into another conversation that doesn’t interest you, you might continue strolling around the room to join in another conversation that does.

 The basic premise of twitter is to answer the question, “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less.

So, at this most basic level, you might see comments like, “Stuck in a traffic jam,” “Eating sushi for lunch,” “housecleaning sucks,” “kids at soccer practice,” “why did the chicken cross the road?,” yada, yada.  These kinds of comments are aimed at no one in particular. They just answer the question, “What are you doing?” Some of these comments can be boring or incredibly funny or disarming.

I have become friends with “tweeple” from all over the world. Well, some are mere acquaintances, but some, those that you engage in conversations with often, become actual friends. These are people you would take the time to see if you were in their hometown, maybe meet for a beer or a cup of coffee.  I talk to people in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Lithuania, England, Ireland, Wales, Canada, and all over the U.S!  It’s fun to see how we are different and also how much we are alike. Some of the people I follow are writers, gardeners, cooks.   I enjoy our conversations, and also learn something new everyday!

So, if you want to twitter, go for it. But, after all the positive things I have just said about it, let me also warn you about its negatives.  First, twitter can be addicting. Once you start meeting people and having conversations, you discover how much fun it is and you spend more and more time twitting with them. And, while you are twitting, you are not doing other things. This addiction makes me think of a quote from John Lennon, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” Modify it for twitter and it would be, “Life is what happens while you are busy twittering.”  

Second, all twitterers have to keep a vigilant lookout for spammers and phishers. These are people that follow you and then encourage you to follow them back solely to either sell you something or to direct you to a link that might ask for personal information or might download a virus.  Since twitter is a casual social experience, some tweeple may have a tendency to let their guards down and can sometimes get suckered into one of these scams. 

There are obvious things to look for when deciding to follow someone you don’t know yet. One is the twitterer’s profile. Does the profile include a picture and biography of that person? Does that twitterer have followers and how many? Does that twitterer engage in conversations with other twitterers (real people) or just send “sale messages,” i.e.,  “I got a free PC and it really works! Click here for details.”  There are some “bots’ (not real people, but rather computer generated robots) that aren’t so blatantly obvious. But typically, if after looking at a profile, you think it’s safe to follow someone you don’t know, then follow. Try to engage the person in conversation (‘bots’ cannot reply). And, don’t click on any links sent to you by this person until you are sure, it is indeed, a real person that is trusted by numerous other twitterers. Spammers and pshishers are not out to find quality relationships. They simply reach out to the masses, hoping to rope someone in. It will not take long for you to determine if another twitterer is worth following.

You don’t have to let what I just said scare you off, though. From a security standpoint using twitter is no different than using email. You handle your twitter account like you handle your email account. You don’t open emails from people you don’t know, right? And hopefully, you are extremely selective about what links to click on. It is the same with twitter.  

If you decide you want to try twitter, you must sign up for an account at http://www.twitter.com. You also have to start following people and engaging in conversations. Follow me at @cindyoyo! I’d love to twitter with you!