I believe in Twitter. I find myself defending this social-networking micro-blog as if it were a civil rights issue. Why? Well, I have come up with two possible reasons: Either I have been brainwashed by the creators of Twitter to promote their product, or I am tired of people not understanding what Twitter is and how it can be beneficial to our society.

Twitter is a new way to be instantly connected with the world around you, whether that world is one of celebrities, friends, politics or strangers who happen to be funny.

Twitter defines itself as a “real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.”

“What’s happening” doesn’t necessarily mean what each person is physically doing at the moment. It means that if a person wants to share what’s on his or her mind, he or she has the right and ability to do so regardless of whether or not people care. Also, if a company or organization wants to promote a product or service, it can do so in a fast and interactive way.

I have been using Twitter for over two years now and have tweeted over 2,000 times. I currently follow a variety of people from friends to celebrities to various organizations, and each account that I follow uses Twitter in a different way.

My favorite tweeter is Mark Hart, also known as @LT_TheBiblegeek. He uses Twitter to relate life experience to the Bible in a comical way. He also tweets funny stories about his daughters. One of my favorites is “Teacher: ‘If your daughter knew her spelling words as well as her Bible stories she’d get into Harvard.’ Me: ‘I’ll settle for Heaven.'”

Another account I follow is @TOPPERPRIDE. It keeps me updated on what is going on with the St. Edward’s University sports teams.

I also follow my family and many friends from back home. I am able to stay easily connected with them on a daily basis.

As for my followers, there are about 70. Besides the 15 to 20 accounts that are only following me to get me to follow them, my followers mostly consist of friends and family. I mostly tweet about random experiences in my day.

For example, just the other day I walked by a very large flower that reminded me of the human-eating one from the movie “Jumanji,” a scene which scarred me as a child. I tweeted about it with a picture of the flower. Although most people would not really care to hear stories like this, they don’t have to follow me if they don’t want to.

People can control their own Twitter experience. If you want to follow a bunch of strangers tweeting about going to the grocery store or being bored, go ahead. But if you want to follow people who have relevance to you, Twitter is a great way to do so.