It is currently the hottest thing on the web to say that the hottest thing on the web is Twitter.com, and it is hard to argue.  Based in San Francisco, Twitter was publicly launched in August of 2006, and has seen explosive growth in less than three years. So, what is it, you ask? And how do I use it?  Here’s the deal.

Twitter is a free micro-blogging service which limits posts to 140 characters, and asks one question: “What are you doing?”  Users post their Tweets about everything from the profound to the ridiculous.  Your posts can be published using a variety or methods, and you are able to receive updates from the users you follow via the same methods – text message, the Twitter web interface, browser plug-ins like Twitterfox, mobile phone applications like Twitterberry, Tiny Twitter for Blackberry users, and a host of available applications for the iPhone.  Desktop software like Tweetdeck is pretty helpful to segment out the many people you follow and keep track of people posting replies to you. Twitter provides a nice API (application programming interface) which has allowed numerous applications and tools to sprout up all over the web.

You choose other users whose posts you want to follow, and other users follow your posts.  You are able to view all of these posts in a thread where the most recent posts are on top.  When viewing someone’s Twitter profile, you see a count of how many users are following them, how many they are following and how many times they have updated or posted – Tweeted to use the Twiter lexicon.  I’ve been using Twitter since the middle of 2008, and it is my favorite social network.

To experience it for yourself, head to Twitter.com and establish your own user profile.  Once you’re selected a username, you are able to make some simple modifications to your profile’s look and feel.  Most Tweeters upload an avatar (a graphical representation of you) and a background image as well as altering the color scheme of your profile page.

But that’s not what it is about – it is about connecting with people, interacting, sharing and consuming what others have posted. You can send replies to each other, which are published in the public Twitter thread, or send direct messages (DMs) which are private messages to other users.

A reply is Tweeted by putting the @ in front of a username, like @dannybrown – see below:

When someone puts the # in front of a term, like #olympics, this is a hashtag.  For big events or themes, users include them with their posts.  1300 listeners might be interested in #TCOT – Top Conservatives on Twitter.

So, if you have read this far, you are interested enough to sign up for an account.  I could write another 1,000 words on Twitter, and still not cover everything.  Stop reading about it, and get involved.  It is fun.  As always, feel free to email me – justin at wsg.net – or call in to the station when I’m on the air with Paul – Monday mornings at 9:05.

I’ll leave you with some fun things to use when you have your profile setup.  Follow me, I’ll follow you back and we’ll see what we have to talk about.

The station’s Twitter profile: @Talk1300

My Twitter profile:@JustinCresswell

1300’s Pat Ryan: @Prgagm

1300’s Angela Austin: @AngelaEAustin

Search.Twitter.com helps you find people near you, in your field, those with common interests.

Tweet Stats shows you how you use it with pretty charts.

Twitter Grader shows you how you’re doing and suggest peeps to follow.

Twit Backs will help you create a free, custom background.

PS – The Today Show ran a feature on Twitter this morning – see it here.