Today Chris Winfield published a great article on SearchEngineLand about Twitter. I was amazed to see that he was able to actually use Twitter to write an article about Twitter.

“Basically the best way to show the true power of something is to let it demonstrate it for you. That’s what I wanted to do with Twitter.” – Chris Winfield

I am always open to trying out new social communities and tools. Even though I tend to spend more time using the ones that help me business wise, I will give them all a try at least once.

Facebook was cool, but I never logged, in unless I got an email saying someone wanted to add me as a friend. MySpace was something that looked interesting, but got boring about the time I finished putting in a cool css layout.

As for real time social communities and tools, I had already jumped on Pownce, because I knew social media users had accounts. Pownce seemed more likely to have a return on my time spent using it. Twitter, on the other hand, showed no potential value to me.

Sure I registered a few random social names and even threw in a TwitterFeed or two, but I never actually used the service until around the beginning of this year.

All credit due, it was probably the Twitter hoax stuff that Greg Boser started in Pubcon, and then SMX West, that first got me to want to log into the service. I thought it was funny and it was also when I learned that more people where using it.

Twitter Hoax 1:

Started by Greg Boser, talking about Dax being thrown out of the Ghost Bar and taking a beating in the elevator that ended with him at the hospital. This one started a huge stir which had Rand contacting his legal team and Brett Tabke being woken up at 3:00 am.

Twitter Hoax 2:

Started by Greg Boser, again, talking about how drunk Danny Sullivan was and how he had fallen to the ground, cutting his head open in the process. This one didn’t go quite as far as the first hoax, but got a few questioning responses.

Twhirl was also a huge factor that got me into Twitter. I was able to have a program that would keep all my tweets like an IM client and give me small little pop-up windows showing me what people where saying, so I didn’t have to check it all the time.

Still I was only dropping a few links and plucking along with a few updates a day until all of a sudden, I saw that my Twhirl screen was either all tweets from me or directed at me. It was then that I took a deep breath, and admitted I was finally hooked.

A lot of really great posts and thought have been published over the last few months discussing Twitter and it’s pros and cons. Some people, like Greg Hartnett, just flat refuse to use it, while others like Eric Lander decide they just don’t need the distraction and delete their accounts.

• I Twitter, Therefore I am
• Ten ways market your blog on Twitter without being a spammer
• 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners
• Michael Gray’s Twitter Selections
• From Twits to Tweeple, Why I Embraced Twitter and You Should Too
• Twitter: Is it really worth using?

I have to admit at first it was pretty pointless. Who really cares about what everyone is doing at this moment or what they just had for lunch and watched on television.

However, over time I have found some great value out of Twitter. On numerous occasions, I have needed an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or a point in the right direction. Whether it is WordPress plugins, fixes in programming and bug resolutions, people to hire, questions answered, opinions on various things, and a link or term I just couldn’t grab, Twitter users have provided it.

Twitter also provided me a lot of entertainment while in SES New York, when I decided to do a quick Twitter hoax. Of course there was no better person than Twitter hoax master: Greg Boser.

Twitter Hoax 3:

Started by Brent Csutoras, talking about Greg Boser getting drunk and eventually arrested. This one actually went over well because people do not see me do these types of things very often.

I still have only been using Twitter a short time period, but already it has saved me tons of money and provided me countless hours of entertainment.

The real key to the success of Twitter is that it is a real time social tool without a feeling of commitment. You can use it when you want and to the extent you want and still get the full value from it.

So if your on the fence about whether you should or should not use twitter, I would recommend you give it a shot. Grab a cool twitter application and add @brentcsutoras to your follow list.

If you need more than just me to follow, check out this short list of cool people here.

Now sit back, enjoy, and join the conversation.