This article will introduce the basics of twitter to the interested newbie: creating an account, following people or companies of interest, and using the web, desktop or a mobile phone to receive twitter updates. A companion article will delve into more detail on twitter for personal and business use.

Twitter's website offers this definition:

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.

In other words, it's a social networking communication tool that uses short, cellphone text-message size updates, sometimes called microblogs or tweets. Every user can have their own Twitter account, and deliver their tweets to their subscribers, also known as followers. Following a Twitter user will allow you to be instantly updated when they post a new message. If you are familiar with Facebook Status Updates, then you basically know Twitter.