Taking Twitter Seriously

Twitter can be easily dismissed as IM-Lite or a tool for people with short attention spans but, interestingly enough, it is also starting to gain traction as a serious communications tool for people to communicate about serious stuff…like politics.

ReadWriteWrite’s Josh Catone has a great post looking at Twitter’s pros and cons, and how it is started to be used even by the mainstream media to distribute content in a quick and efficient manner.

There’s no doubt Twitter has come a long way in a short period of time while its status and image has been upgraded from toy to tool.

The next interesting development will be whether Twitter can take the leap from being a tool used by a small, enthusiastic group of tech-savvy people to the mainstream. At some point will Twitter become as ubiquitous as blogging? Remember, it was only a couple of years ago that blogging was a pretty niche-y activity, while today everyone’s got one.

Another thing to look for is how the Twitter ecosystem will follow in the wake of Twitter’s growing popularity. There’s already demand for plug-ins that will make Twitter more effective and useful. If this area flourishes, it will provide Twitter will another push into the mainstream.

For more, check out techPresident, which suggests “Twitter could be the breakout technology tool of Election 2008″.

More: Speaking of Twitter and politics, the next big test for the platform (technology as opposed to political) is Feb. 5 when Super Tuesday happens. Let’s see how Twitter fares with all the political types pounding out messages as 24 U.S. states hold presidential primaries.

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