Twitter has gained popularity over the past few years, but still many people have never heard of it. I got into to twitter about a year ago almost by accident. I had heard of it, but really didn’t seem interested at all. That is until I realized that I could add tasks to the new online task management service that I had just started using (more on that in another post).

The basic idea behind twitter is that you simply answer the question, “What are you doing?” It’s very similar to facebook’s status updates. In fact you can have twitter automatically update your status on facebook, too. You can share your thoughts, what you had for lunch, or just random nothingness throughout the day.

When I really started being a frequent user of twitter, many of my facebook friends were wondering why I was updating my status so often. I told that I was using twitter and they basically gave me blank stares. The event that really changed my use of twitter the most was when Emory was born. I decided that I would keep people updated by sending frequent updates via twitter. I figured that would be the easiest and best way to keep everyone informed without having to make a bunch of callas or texts. It turned out to be a really cool experience both for me and for the dozens of people that told me they were following along with my updates.

To get started with twitter just go to the site, sign up, and link your account to your phone (that way you can send updates with text messages). Then find some people to follow. Here’s a few to get you started: me, my older brother, Terry Storch from lifechurch.tv, ESPN, and Mark Lee from Third Day. I also recommend using an application like Twhirl. It’s a much better experience than going to the main website. Also, check out this newbie’s guide to twitter.

I can’t fully nail down why I’m hooked to twitter now, but after using it this long I know I’m hooked. It’s fun and it’s also an outlet for me to post my thoughts that aren’t really long enough for a blog post.