Sometimes those of us working in the communications industry can get a bit carried away with our own hype – shocking revelation I know. However, for me Twitter is an absolutely perfect example of this in action. A day does not go by when I’m not talking on or about Twitter and the media is always full of articles talking about how fast it is growing and how popular it is becoming. However, when I meet my friends outside the office, not a single one is on Twitter and I’m constantly being asked just what the point of it all is. Have we all become so carried away with our own hype that we’ve forgotten Twitter is still pretty much a niche tool whose column inches have allowed it to punch some way above its weight?

If Twitter is to achieve mainstream adoption, it still has one very important challenge to overcome – explaining to consumers just what exactly it is there for. Is it just a way to stalk celebrities and tell the world what you had for lunch or is there actually a valuable purpose lurking behind the hype? I’ll admit that it’s taken me some time to uncover what I believe the purpose to be (and I’ll happily admit this might not be the same for everyone) and move past my cynical beginnings.

For me, Twitter is all about knowledge. I can spend 10 minutes on Twitter in the morning and be completely up to date with all the news from around the world. I’ll often find out about breaking stories through Twitter and invariably I am the first one to share this with my friends. So, if you still don’t really understand why you should be on Twitter – just think about how intelligent you can look down the pub.