To Tweet or Not to Tweet

I always find it strange when two completely different circles begin talking about the same thing. This happened to me the other day. I went to a SWIM meeting (Smart Women in Marketing) where we talked about networking, specifically Facebook and twitter, and then I went to work and read “Why I Tweet” by Jeffrey Mannon the Gartner Network Blog. I have to admit, I did not tweet and I am not sure I am sold on the good tweeting can bring. But, it got me thinking…here are two unrelated circles both talking about using it as a tool for networking.

So, I want to know, how many of you tweet? Is it for personal use or business? Or, does tweeting blur that boundary? And if it is so popular, how could we utilize those aspects for training?

I decided to join and see for myself what makes tweeting better than blogging or email. Now I have only tweeted a few times, but here is what I have discovered so far:

1) It is fun and easy. Who doesn’t have 140 characters to spout something?
2) You need to tweet often to be followed
3) You also need to follow others–this I am still learning how to find fellow marketers
4) You don’t have to write about the coffee you purchased in the morning, though you can.

So what seems to make it popular is the fact that it is so short and sweet. And simple. Something I think we would all like to see in corporate training. Could there be a way to have learners tweet what they know about, I don’t know, let’s say customer service in 140 characters or less, and then use this information to see where employees actually need training. Or maybe they know the information, but aren’t sure how to use it in real time so they tweet on actual situations and others give advice…? I’m curious to hear what others think…