Use Twitter

Let's say you have to write a short article about the social networking site Twitter. You're suffering from writer's block, so you hop online and ask, "For work: How does Twitter improve your life?"

So goes a typical post on the increasingly popular and addictive microblogging site. There is essentially one rule: that messages, or "tweets," do not exceed 140 characters. Besides that, almost anything goes. Journalists, businesses, news sites, and celebrities (Britney, Shaq, and Obama) use it to extend their reach. For regular folk, Twitter chronicles the ebb and flow of life—a way to stay connected. Some stick to the banal ("Bathroom break!"), while others get creative: "Twitter in haiku/because we really don't care/what you ate for lunch."