What’s the Story?
Teens are tweeting about TWITTER.COM, a microblogging and social networking site that allows users to send and receive "tweets" -- short updates of 140 characters or less -- to and from the Twitter site and cell phones, as well as other Web applications like IM and
Facebook. Find Twitter friends you want to keep up with? "Follow" those folks to receive all their updates. Users can choose to keep profiles private, which means followers must be approved before they can read tweets. Twitter is huge as a social tool, but it's also been used by media outlets, politicians, and even the Phoenix spacecraft on Mars to send out info.
Is It Any Good?
Twitter can be great for keeping in touch with friends, or keeping up with what's going on in the world -- especially trends in technology. Twitter attracts a lot of Web-savvy users, many of whom are developing services that enhance Twitter -- like a search engine and a round-up of the most talked-about topics. Twitter's definitely not for kids, though -- especially if it continues to be hands-off in enforcing its Terms of Service.