Crazyworld

OK, I have to confess: I've been experimenting with a new lifestyle.

I've tried not to let it take control, but those around me have noticed something's different.

For a little over a month now, I've been on Twitter.

Twitter -- a micro-blog where you "follow" others and others, in turn, can follow you -- combines elements of news feeds, chatting and social networking. It's the epitome of the obsessive, need-to-know-now culture the Internet has spawned. It's kind of like crack for geeks. And it's ever-expanding.

The premise is simple. All you have to do is answer the constant question: What are you doing right now?

But is it useful?

It can be. I'm still learning all the lingo (RT, for instance, stands for "re-tweet," where you re-post someone else's thoughts so your followers see them, too). I don't "tweet" from my phone (yet). And I'm still not sure about all the apps (some grade your performance, which you can isolate by geographic area).

Kathleen Parker, in the link above, asks, "How long before we begin to expect, if not demand, that public officials twitter?"

The thing is, it's already happening.

S.C. state Reps. Nathan Ballentine, Dan Hamilton, Eric Bedingfield, Joey Millwood, Anton Gunn and James Smith all twitter in varying degrees. You can also find at least three candidates for Republican National Committee chair on Twitter: South Carolina's own Katon Dawson, Michigan's Saul Anuzis and Tennessee's Chip Saltsman. U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis twittered just yesterday about the auto bailout, and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint tweets, too. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster just joined, and there's a plethora of bloggers, political officials, activists and consultants. If I've missed someone, please forgive me: Like I said, I'm still learning the ropes.

Twitter is like a never-ending conversation, one that offers glimpses into the lives of some of the people online. (Anuzis ate too much pizza last night, for instance. Today, Gunn is attending his first Richland County Legislative Delegation meeting. Bedingfield is having dinner with the Belmont Fire District tonight. And Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada is, for some reason, musing about "hot spinach balls.") Many Twitterers post links to articles they are reading or enjoyed, which not only helps disperse information, but gives you insight into what interests them. And, you can also use it for self-promotion or to push a platform close to your heart. (Dawson has been hammering on the Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich scandal.)

And then, there's tags. (I think they're actually called hash tags.) They're basically the "#" symbol plus a short description. At the bottom of the Twitter screen, you can search for the tag and see everyone who has contributed to that conversation. The most useful tag I've seen so far was #sc2008, which was used on Election Day and collected information around the state. Some others that are getting a lot of play these days -- at least among the people I follow -- are #scga (I think that's South Carolina state government. Lots of stuff about pre-filed legislation there.), #rncchair (needs no explanation) and #tcot (I think that stands for "True Conservatives on Twitter.")

My Twitter experiment so far hasn't been totally unproductive. I found out about the new school choice group in town from a tweet. I use it to shamelessly promote blog entries that I hope to get feedback on. I'm genuinely interested in the tweets from the House floor. And I've even met one of our readers on Twitter for lunch.

Is it useful?

It will be. I say that because I have one editor -- I like to write long -- who often tells me, "This story doesn't need to be long. I can sum it up in two sentences." Two sentences? That's a tweet.

To me, this goes right along with the "burst culture" I've referred to for a while. Twitter might be a fad, but these short, constant bursts of information from one to many in a two-way information flow will only gain popularity. Maybe the next incarnation will give you more than 140 characters to type your thoughts. Maybe it will be integrated into other platforms. (Hamilton has an interersting new Web site.) Maybe one day this will be an audio platform, so you're not bothered with reading and typing.

So, right now, as Twitter likes to ask, I'm still reviewing the merits of the current setup and how much time I should devote to it. (I did brag to an editor the other day that I knew what a re-tweet was.)

If you give a twit, feel free to stop by and share your thoughts.