I’ve really been making an effort to immerse myself in different types of technology in order to understand it, but I really didn’t get the point of Twitter.

If you’re one of my not so technologically inclined friends, Twitter is an application that allows you to update your status or let people know what’s on your mind in a limited number of words. A lot of people send “tweets” from their cell phones, which is why the messages are short. That was my quick and dirty interpretation of Twitter.

First of all, I didn’t understand how it was different than posting my facebook update. Second, I didn’t know anyone on Twitter, so I didn’t see how I would even begin to play with it. But I signed up anyway so I could see what it looked like, then I looked for friends who might be on Twitter and promptly discovered, I had none.

Now, in the meantime, I also joined Classroom 2.0 which is a social networking site for people who are interested in the relationship between education and web 2.0. I joined a couple groups and through that, found like-minded teachers (and non-teachers) from all over Canada, the U.S., and Europe, and I can now subscribe to their “tweets” and find out what they’re up to. They also include links to blogs and other online content that might interest me. Click here to read a much better explanation about Twitter.

I’m finding that it’s a really cool way to expand my social and professional network. I can even follow people that I really admire like David Warlick and Will Richardson.

I know a lot of people are worried that the internet leads people to be more introverted and isolated, but here is a clear example of how it does just the opposite! It’s really very inspiring and empowering. So come on, friends! Get on Twitter and join the conversation. At least give it a try. Think of it like the broccoli sitting on the plate that you beg your child to take one bite of. Call it a tree or something.