Twitter.  It’s been around for almost three years, but to most people it came about within the last few months.  Really makes me wonder exactly what the “tipping point” was for that technology.  I think I’ll wait for Malcolm Gladwell to do the research on that one.

Regardless of what tipped it, twitter is growing exponentially.  Turning down a $50 million acquisition offer from Google, twitter is working tirelessly to figure out exactly how they can create a return for their investors.  How will twitter make money?  Some speculate that they’re taking the Google approach – perfecting their product before worrying about profit.  Whatever the approach, they’re taking their time making sure it’s the right move.

So, what is twitter and why is it all the hype?

Twitter is a popular microblogging platform that allows users to publish 140 character text messages.  People use it to keep up on the latest news and information that is of interest to them, or to keep in touch with the activity of friends and family.  It has served as the quickest source of breaking news (as in the case of reports of the plane downed in the Hudson River), the platform for a showdown between Ashton Kutcher and CNN, and a PR nightmare for the likes of Amazon.

A lot of companies have been jumping on the twitter bandwagon as well – just as they were figuring out the best way to manage their facebook profiles.  Luckily for them, twitter isn’t a far cry from the concept of their current facebook status updates.

Should you create a twitter profile for your company?  The answer, as always, lies in another age-old question.  What is the business objective?  Can twitter accomplish it?  If the answer is yes, join twitter if you haven’t yet – the only way to learn it is to participate, or work with someone who knows what they’re doing.  And, of course – develop a strategy for your engagement with the twittersphere.  Take twitter’s approach – think through it before you do it.