Can someone explain to me in very simple terms how Twitter works?

[Tim]

Even the Twitter website does not explain it!

[IntellectualSamurai675]

I know how you feel! This site explains it perfectly:
"When you sign up with Twitter, you can use the service to post and receive messages to a network of contacts. Instead of sending a dozen e-mails or text messages, you send one message to your Twitter account, and the service distributes it to all your friends. Members use Twitter to organize impromptu gatherings, carry on a group conversation or just send a quick update to let people know what's going on."

Twitter has been around for some time; now that pseudo-celebs such as Richard Bacon have started banging on about it, it is gaining more notoriety.

[Sunrise]

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS, or through applications such as TwitterMobile, Tweetie, Twinkle, Twitterrific, Feedalizr, Facebook, and Twidget, a widget application. Four gateway numbers are currently available for SMS: short codes for the United States, Canada, and India, and a United Kingdom-based number for international use. Several third parties offer posting and receiving updates via email. Twitter had by one measure over 3 million accounts and, by another, well over 5 million visitors in September 2008, a fivefold increase in a month


http://www.lostartofblogging.com/twitter...

http://www.socialdesire.com/2008/01/24/2...


http://quotably.com/


http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/...

[miss curious?]

just like facebook status updates!!!
instead they are called tweets.