Chances are you’ve heard about Twitter already, probably recently — people tend to talk when you grow by 900% in one year. For those who haven’t, here’s what you need to know: Twitter is a social networking and “micro” blogging service founded in 2006. Users post updates to their pages via twitter.com, third-party Twitter clients, or even their cell phones. Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters, so instead of in-depth discussion and discourse like you might expect on a blog, you get tiny snapshots of what all of your contacts are up to. Compete.com recently ranked Twitter as the third largest social network (behind Facebook and Myspace).

The key to Twitter’s success has been staying small (only 29 employees) and just focusing on one thing and doing it well. There are no ads on the site and they currently make no profit. The minimalist design and functionality also means that everyone on Twitter, from your nephew to Shaquille O’Neal [twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ], has an even playing field to broadcast their thoughts to the world.

The biggest development in Twitter over the last year has been the rise of corporate Twitter usage. Originally conceived as just person-to-person connections, Twitter now features some of the biggest brands in all areas of business, and this has sparked some debate on best practices businesses should follow when using Twitter. The beauty of Twitter is that unlike Myspace or Facebook, following people is not a two-way street. If your brand account isn’t adding value, people don’t have to follow it just because you’re following them. In general, Twitter users are web-savvy and need Twitter-specific content to make following your brand account worthwhile. One of the best examples of this is Comcast Cares [twitter.com/comcastcares], an account set up by Comcast to get feedback on their service and to respond to customers in a personal, one-to-one way. Comcast currently has over 10,000 people following them on Twitter.

The single most important thing about brand accounts on Twitter is that they sound human. Twitter users don’t want to see their personal pages overrun with commercials for your brand, they want interesting content. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh takes this a step further by personally updating the Zappos.com Twitter account [twitter.com/zappos] with interesting things that have happened to him (which once included getting a photo of himself giving “bunny ears” to Bill Gates, the man who paid him $265 million for LinkExchange). In between posts of what he’s having for dinner and his opinion of MacGyver there are photos of employees, links to relevant news stories, and tips about how to run a successful business. This all adds up to paint a picture of Zappos as an industry leader, a fun place to work with and for, and a brand with real personality.

In the next few months we’ll be writing more about how Media Genesis is using social networking, including Twitter, both for ourselves and for others. If you are interested in working with us to create a Twitter brand account, please contact us at [inquiry@medaiG.com].