Where does Twitter fit in?

So, I've been checking out and reading about twitter in the WSJ for a bit. I know the guys who've started it (one of which came from Google) are having a bit of trouble generating a revenue stream for the buisness. Beyond that I've been trying to decide what it is about Twitter, or what area it fills that FaceBook doesn't. First off let me state that I understand the fundametal differences that have attracted people to twitter. The chance to follow different groups, organziations, celebrities, friends, family, and companies on their latest happenings. To me Twitter does do an excellent job of rounding up all the information with the help of some add-on's that I will mention in a second.

I really just wanted to see what all the hype was about, but I can't find a use for the service as of yet. Twitter has had some serious problems with ensuring those that make the account are really who they say they are. I read about an incident where an Exxon account was making posts about it's business but the posts were not authorized..and nor was the user a legit Exxon employee or spokeswoman/man. So the ability to make sure the people we are reading updates on (especially celebs etc) are who they say they are is a problem. If and when Twitter can figure out a good way to ensure that these people are really the one's they claim they are I'll remain a bit skeptical about the service...to an extent. I also realize and highly doubt that a lot of the celebrities are really using the service. I am much more inclined to believe they might on occasion, but more likely than not it is their persons for Public Relations. The idea is still very cool though.

Beyond the problems of generating a solid revenue stream so the company can grow, the need for better identification, the only thing I would enchance is the user interface. Luckily, there is a fix for this called TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com...or just google it - I would say bing it..but I jsut can't get myself to say "bing"...come on microsoft be cool..just once and come up with a better term than BING). TweetDeck allows you to see all mentions, direct messages, and tweets in one easy to use interface that runs on your computer. You don't have to have the web page up! If you're a big Twitter user TweetDeck is a must I would say.

I still don't have a need for Twitter or to read meaningless updates from people "drying my hair" etc. But the 130 word limit does make it a little hard to share much more. I wanted to share some information I had found in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) the other day, but I was siginificantly over the limit, and would have had to make several different entries. Maybe I'm triyng to use Twitter for something other than it's intended purpose...but the info I was trying to share was what was on my mind at the moment and something I felt like sharing.