Why do we use Twitter?

Today I found out that Mark Hoppus of the newly reunited blink-182 is producing the new Motion City Soundtrack record, USC football coach Pete Carroll had a conversation with Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini and a salmonella outbreak has caused a pistachio recall.

This is all because of the extra-personal social networking phenomenon Twitter.

A service bubbling below the mainstream just a few short months ago, Twitter has exploded into pop culture. It even became a story when numerous senators, representatives and the media sent out tweets during President Barack Obama’s address to Congress.

The New York Times just posted a piece Monday about Obama’s tweeting return after a long hiatus. Forbes wrote earlier this month urging CEOs and business leaders to use the service. Numerous other outlets have reported on the various famous users of the site, real or not to the extent where we see almost at least one big story a week about Twitter.

The hoopla over more thorough social networking Web sites like Facebook makes sense – they keep you connected in an almost unhealthy way. Yet Twitter is growing faster than Facebook.

Nielsen research says Twitter grew 1689 percent in the February 2008 to February 2009 time period – by using only one of its features.

As the clearest example of the need for recognition of our own egotistical natures and somewhat unhealthy interest in the personal, intimate moments of others, nothing better personifies our culture-of-the-moment right now. But with recent controversial events that were actually caused by Twitter making their way into the headlines (and updates) of the mainstream news media, where does the service go from here?

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was recently fined by the NBA for complaining about officials in a tweet. Courtney Love is being sued for allegedly making libelous remarks, becoming part of the first civil case involving celebrities and Twitter.

With these events in mind, should Twitter brass make swift changes that monitor possibly damaging remarks, or do they let things be under the guise of free speech?

In terms of the news, we’ve seen sources publish tweets about updates on their sites, and many major news personalities have their own accounts. It’s not out of the question that we reach a point where news is consistently broken on Twitter.

Instead of updating the Web site with a 150-word story, why not a 75-word tweet?

It’s usually lame to attack new technology, but at this point, can this stuff go any further? There’s nothing more connected and intrusive than knowing what mall Shaquille O’Neal is shopping at or what Jimmy Fallon ate during rehearsal.

Twitter isn’t a fad, but more than any other recent networking application, it says a lot about the society in which we live.