(This is part 2 of a chicken-'n'-egg series explaining the usefulness of Twitter. If you get what Twitter is, but need help getting started, you might want to look at "A non-fanatical beginner's guide to Twitter.")

I'm tapping away furiously on my Blackberry as a friend arrives to join me for coffee. "Whatcha working on?" he asks.

"Just updating my Twitter," I say. "Two secs."

"Twitter, huh? I just don't get it, I guess."

"Oh, my. Allow me to get you to 'get' it, my friend."

This is a conversation I have often, and while it might make some diehard Twitterers cringe, I relish this moment to expound and explain this little phenomenon that's happening around Twitter and services like it. I've clearly drunk the Kool-Aid of the micro-blogging revolution, and I'd love to walk you through some of the ways people are enjoying it.

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Thanks to a bunch of mainstream media coverage, a lot of folks around me are becoming more interested in participating in the Twitterverse. "All right, all right," they say. "You've convinced me. But how do I get started?" It's almost like walking into a giant party for the first time: You're not sure where your friends are, the bar is on the other side of the room, and the bathrooms are anyone's guess. Allow me to be your party guide.

Sure, sure, you could also just Google "beginner's guide to Twitter" and read a any number of other guides that have been written. Problem is, I feel like most of them focus on two niches: how to be a fanatical Twitterer, and/or how to be a really obnoxiously popular Twitterer. What I'm aiming for here is more for people who want to experiment a little and connect with other folks on a pretty direct level. We'll talk later about different ways you can participate, but for now, let's just get the basics down.

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