I have no interest in what a celebrity is eating right now and I have better ways of communicating with close friends. But Twitter has a number of excellent uses:

Newsfeed. Lots of businesses, publications, newspapers and government departments are tweeting. Find those close to you or that interest you, follow them and you have an instant news wire.

Business News. You can track currency, stocks, tech news, get tips and advice

Broaden Horizons. By following lists or people you don't know you get exposed to news, stories, photos and video you wouldn't otherwise see

Sharing. Twitter works by people sharing information and re-tweeting things they discovered to spread them further.

And as a business tool? The jury's out for me. I'm not sure what benefit there is for business development beyond profile and PR.

As an event support tool it is very interesting. Creating a closed group for an event that delegates or people unable to attend can follow in the lead up to an event and also during an event, with tweets of key content and follow up live discussion.

The thing I like most about Twitter is that you never have to ready anything longer than a text message - so you can read through a lot of information very quickly.

Take a look, follow @Cascade_alan at www.Twitter.com