Twitter is sweeping the globe. Even celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Ashton Kutcher, and Ellen DeGeneres, are participating in Twittermania. The number of adults using Twitter is estimated at 12.1M in 2009 and is expected to grow to 18.1M (10.8%) in 2010.

If you haven’t used Twitter as a business communication and networking tool you should reconsider. In another survey 31.1% of resp ondents use Twitter for work related activities or research. That means in 2010 there will be an estimated 5.6M adults using twitter for business.

Some think Twitter may be the next Google. Perhaps. But Google is a search engine and Twitter is a people engine.

Google remains the most powerful web-force with a 73% market share in the search engine category.  Although there are other search engines available, the search game is played on Google’s court, using their rules and officials.

Since my Twitter twibe cares about business, communication, technology tools and current events, what I care about, I don’t need CNN or Yahoo or even Google. When something happens relevant to those subjects I get tweeted immediately and provided a link to the details. It’s cool.

Current event tweets, such as those that followed the recent Iranian elections, can be more accurate and timely than results from the largest organizations. What can take hours for Google to locate or CNN to report takes seconds on Twitter. The news may not be as distilled or deep, but it is current and effortless.

Some argue that tweets are similar to blogs. I disagree. The 140-character limit forces Tweeters to choose their words carefully, to be concise and informative. Some do that better than others.

Twitter gives companies the ability to communicate and interact with customers inexpensively and in real-time. To develop customer intimacy and loyalty in ways that have never existed before social media. Dell does a great job of that through Twitter. I believe businesses will be forced to reduce tedious “customer service” red tape and resolve customer issues online, as they arise, instead of at their own convenience.

Marketing professionals and young people should consider what Twitter (social media) knowledge does for their resume.  If employers have two equally qualified candidates, I believe the one with social media knowledge and 1,000 Twitter Followers will have the edge.  

Twitter power is spreading. It has already impacted search engines, social sites, job sites and online classified ads. Like all networks, as the twitter network spreads its value increases. Twitter is pre-IPO so its current value is under debate. Sharepost, a private equity market for pre-IPO companies, valued Twitter at $589M while TechCrunch, using their valuation model, placed is at $1.7B!

We all need to understand the Twitter phenomena and figure out how to use it before it figures out how to use us.

Steve
www.twitter.com/alignedmarket