Twitter has become more and more prevalent in all of our lives very recently. Even if you are not a member or Twitter, or even visit the website at all, Twitter is still a known quantity to you. Bursting on to the we in 2006, Twitter allowed it users to answer the simple question of "What are you doing?". The website gives you 140 characters to answer this question, and once done it posts it up for the world to see. The main driving point for Twitter at it's inception was the celebrity use. Some early adopters, like Shaq and Aston Kutcher, accumulated millions of followers in a short period of time. People who where willing to take a small portion of their day to hear what their idols were doing. Once expanding to a more border audience, Twitter was able to get normal, everyday people on the website with their friends, telling each other what they were doing when they are not together. A major draw of Twitter was the ability to Tweet on the road, using a smartphone. People can download applications onto their iPhones, Blackberrys and other phones of that sort to Tweet from all over the world. This is the only known revenue stream for Twitter as of right now. But there is no doubting Twitters popularity. My 74 year old grandfather asked me the other day what a Twitter was. The word has become part of our everyday lives, hearing it on TV, radio, and just in general conversation. Twitter is one of the fastest ways to acquire news, mainly because it updates in literally real time. Someone can see something important happen, and post it to their Twitter before even any of the new stations can send out a van. It's very interesting to look at the website in that way. Many companies partake in the phenomenon, making it an easy and free way to advertise. With over 55 million hits every month, I can't imagine this website going anywhere.
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