Twitter is the biggest social media phenomenon since Facebook. Bloggers are flocking to it like bees to honey, yet the reviews are decidedly mixed.
Some bloggers love Twitter, citing its relationship building power, convenience, interpersonal feel, brevity, and "fun factor". Some bloggers, as well as large companies including Dell, have reported significant lead and business generation through skillful, strategic twitting.
On the other hand, Twitter has its critics, who complain of the site's tendency toward the trivial, its brevity (how much can you really say in 140 characters?), and the impossibility of following, let alone participating in, hundreds or thousands of conversations.
Ironically, a major fly in the Twitter ointment right now is due to its skyrocketing popularity - continual server downtime. In the past week, I've been unable to log in on multiple occasions, and have gotten bounced off just as I was getting into some fairly interesting conversations.
It's still way too early to pass judgment on Twitter.
Twitter tools and widgets are being developed faster than you can count them, and experimentation by business-minded bloggers may discover practical, replicable, and scalable ways to use Twitter for driving Web site traffic.
Social media is always about collective experimentation -- much different from traditional search marketing, the province of tightly defined, measurable, and scalable advertising models and programs. Both have their place.
Judging from the enormous number of savvy bloggers fascinated by Twitter, I wouldn't bet against it just yet.
