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Twitter, Inc. is a social networking tool, free microblogging website co-founded by Jack Dorsey. Twitter is a privately funded startup established by Obvious.com in San Francisco, March 21, 2006. Twitter is a new kind of technology that uses multiple methods of communication to help keep you in touch with people to find out what's happening right now. More than half of all Twitter users connect with the service via their cell phones. As a simple messaging tool, the website states:

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Twitter asks one question, "What are you doing?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web. The result of using Twitter to stay connected with friends, relatives, and coworkers is that you have a sense of what folks are up to but you are not expected to respond to any updates unless you want to.

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They are a fast growing company with over 40 million registered users worldwide as of 2009. Currently, they are a money losing operation but have an enormous market capitalization over one billion dollars. Twitter has rejected takeover offers worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Google and Facebook. Many celebrities and national sports figures use the popular service and anybody can follow their messages- called tweets. As of 2009, the major search engines integrated tweets into the search results.

About The CEO

Evan Williams, a Jack Dorsey's partner, started the website Blogger, which he sold to Google.

Twitter office space (Photo by Jennifer Woodard Maderazo).

Twitter Phenom

The site is such a popular destination that new news articles about Twitter appear daily. First for FBI arrests, Daniel Knight Hayden, 52 had Twittered that he would massacre hundreds attending an Oklahoma City Tax Day Tea Party.

Prominence

Republicans dominate the social networking site. Republicans occupy 18 of the top 20 spots in terms of followers on Twitter. The study, "Twongress: The Power of Twitter in Congress," showed twice as many Republicans use Twitter even though there are far fewer Republicans in Congress. "Republican (members of Congress) are outpacing their Democratic rivals in nearly every single category that was measured" This has ushered a markedly different trend to Democrats who for years have outmatched its opponents online.

Iranian Protesters

Iranian protesters angered by the results of Iran's disputed presidential election started to tweet marches on the government. This forced the Islamic Republic to block all cell phone messaging in June 2009. At the request of the U.S. State Department, they asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance to allow tweets from Iranians.

In a separate incident, a group calling itself Iranian Cyber Army hacked into Twitter and defaced their homepage. They replaced the page with a bold pro-Iranian and anti-American message.

Members of Congress that have Twitter accounts

U.S. Senate

Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) Susan Collins (R-Maine) John Cornyn (R-Texas) Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) John Ensign (R-Nev.) Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) John McCain (R-Ariz.) Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) Mark Udall (D-Colo.) Tom Udall (D-N.M.) Mark Warner (D-Va.) Roger Wicker (R-Ms.)

U.S. House of Representatives

Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) John Boehner (R-Ohio) John Boozman (R-Ark.) Michael Burgess (R-Texas) Dan Burton (R-Ind.) Eric Cantor (R-Va.) John Carter (R-Texas) Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) John Culberson (R-Texas) Steven Driehaus (D-Ohio) Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Randy Forbes (R-Va.) Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Mike Honda (D-Calif.) Robert Inglis (R-S.C.) Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.) Tom Latham (R-Iowa) Bob Latta (R-Ohio) Ben Lujan (D-N.M.) Dan Manzullo (R-Ill.) Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) Cathy McMorris (R-Wa.) Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) Candice Miller (R-Mich.) George Miller (D-Calif.) Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Jared Polis (D-Colo.) George Radanovich (R-Calif.) Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) John Shimkus (R-Ill.) Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) Rob Wittman (R-Va.) John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)

External Links

• Twitter Home Page
• Video - Social Networking - Twitter can get you fired, Fox News, March 24, 2009
• U.S. Army warns of twittering terrorists
• Astronaut sends first live tweets from space