Can someone explain to me what twitter is and how and what it is used for?

[and you are?]

[ghouly05]

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets 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 send and receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS (receive only), or through applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and Feedalizr. The service is free to use over the web, but using SMS may incur phone services provider fees.

As of March 2009, Twitter has received extensive visibility and popularity worldwide. Twitter is often described as the 'SMS of Internet' in that the site provides the back-end functionality (via its APIs) to other desktop and web-based applications to send and receive short text messages often obscuring the actual website itself. This extensibility of the service has earned it more popularity than it would have gained if users had to visit the site to use the service.

Per the Twitter website it is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

[rickey p]

Twitter is a micro blogging platform which allows you to put a short messages (updates) upto 140 characters through different ways like IM, Cellphones or using online web.
There are many advantages of using twitter if you using it smart..
There are lots of tools available which will make your life easier with twitter..
http://delimitdesign.com/social-media/tw...sefullons/

Good luck!