I recently was questioned by a friend in an online forum about my ongoing use of Twitter. She professed her hatred for Twitter, and wasn’t sure what was the reason to type in <140 character posts rather than just write something substantive and good. (Assuming substantive = good and short = not so good.)

For me, Twitter is most successful when you’re viewing all tweets together. Individual Twitter accounts reveals things about what those authors are writing, their personality, their wit, and how they see the world. Together, however, they serve as a personalized newsfeed, helping you understand in this information-heavy world what’s immediately occupying people. I’ve been struck in recent weeks by Twitter’s immediacy. The emergency landing of the US Airways jet in the Hudson, breaking news on a court case impacting a client, the New York Post’s recent and misguided Obama cartoon, Laura Hall being freed from jail — all delivered to me initially via Twitter, before I’d encountered these bits of news anywhere else, with official news agencies’ tweets side-by-side with friends and colleagues watching the news.

If you’re out there, how do you use Twitter? Do you like it? And if so, why?

This was too good for me to pass up — I love the chance to meet my fellow Twitter folk, and the Austin Twestival tonight, like other Twestivals around the planet, will be supporting charity:water, bringing clean drinking water to people who desperately need it.

So, if you’re Austin and you’re part of the growing Twitter network, get a ticket and then come by Aces Lounge around 8.

By the way, on Twitter, I’m @philwest, making observations about my work day, the media, and very occasionally, I even cop to eating peanut butter and Nutella from a spoon.