On the local Hackettstown, NJ town forum, someone made the remark that pretty much said that people who use Twitter are either kids, lonely, or unemployed with nothing better to do with their time.

Yikes.

Quick inventory – - checking to see if I am a kid or at least what one would call “young”, void of social connections and accomplishment. Nope. That’s not me. (Well, I like to think that at 42, I am not ready for Shady Pines yet, but I digress). I’ve done pretty well for myself, yet, oh God, I Tweet. It’s true. I confess. I Tweet in the morning, I Tweet during the day, I Tweet at night. And I have not gone blind.

I have a professional Twitter account, and a personal Twitter account. I’m on LinkedIn and Facebook as well. I am even old-school: Long before the days of MicroBlogs like Twitter or Social Media sites like Facebook, I Blogged and continue to do so on WordPress. I must say, however, I have my limits; I dumped MySpace. it got a little too trashy for even me.

What do I tweet about? Politics (ever wonder how all of these politicians get elected when no one admits to voting for them?), travel (I’ve got accumulating airlines miles down to a science and really DIGG(.com) keeping up with fellow Cruise Line followers who like to take to the seas on occasion ), automotive (Hemi Power & Cops and Rodders – fun stuff), current events and pop culture (ever wonder how an American Idol gets elected with no one admits to voting for them?), daily frustrations and blessings (and I am that, for sure). Nothing is sacred: I even Tweeted from my Granny’s funeral, and she would have LOVED it, too.

I think I am in good company. At this very moment, astronauts are Tweeting from the Space Shuttle (fellow tweets, check out @Astro_mike) as they wonder if the weather will ever clear in Florida so that they can land. Along the way, though, they are also Tweeting about how they feel to be looking down on Mother Earth from orbit. All sorts of celebrities Tweet, though there are imposters so be careful about who you follow. Local and national media type’s Tweet. Lawmakers on both sides of the isle and in all 50 states Tweet, and its gotten a few of them in trouble. College professors and Nobel Peace Prize winners Tweet.

Different people gravitate to different things. Cable TV vs Sat TV vs broadcast, text messaging vs a phone call vs a postage stamp, traditional print newspaper vs online news vs news tweets from CNN, sedan vs convertible vs bicycle.

So what is Twitter anyway? Technically speaking, it is a Microblog. Think of it as a stream of mini blog posts, limited to 144 characters each. If a blog is a short story, a Twitter is the title. Think of it as an interesting news feed and don’t judge it by the continuously updated public timeline that often consist of pointless chatter (“I love my cat” blah blah”) . The value of Twitter is in your own online community of people who follow you, as well as those people you choose to follow. You are in control and you shouldn’t care what any crowd thinks, but rather you should care about the wisdom of a carefully selected crowd.

Why might you want to Tweet? If you are a student of current events and understand the importance of the human connection, both for personal enjoyment and professional growth, you might actually enjoy the opportunity to learn new things. There are tons of daily thoughts and ideas from experts and leaders like Tony Robbins for example. I am sure that you also have expertise in your own area – something important or informative to impart to others. Why not share that expertise? If you are in business, why not use it to help communicate your message, such as Chrysler is doing right now through bankruptcy?

Another reason to Tweet is to become a better student of rapidly developing technology. Look at how quickly the online universe is changing? I am found Twitter to be great way to learn about fresh new tech ideas, and the very nature of Twitter with its 144 character limit forces focused communication. You won’t have to worry about reading anything as lengthy as this one blog entry. You can keep up while you are on the go using text messaging or Twitter on an iPhone if you are the type to be always on and plugged in. It’s a matter of preference.

The bottom line for me and the millions of other people who use it is that Twitter is just one more communications tool. If you check it out and don’t like it, the world won’t end. No blood will be shed. And if you do decide you like it, that doesn’t make you an unemployed bum with too much time on your hands.