What is Twitter?  Explanation from Twitter website (http://www.twitter.com/about)

An information network

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.

At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content.

What is Twitter in Social MarCom laymen’s terms?

Twitter is a Micro Blogging site.  This means each post is limited to 140 characters, which is low, especially when comparing to Facebook and Blogs that have no character count on a post.  However, this can be used very effectively if done right.   I’ve heard people say Twitter is dumb, why do I need to know someone just sneezed and other items like that.  Well if you follow a celebrity or a college student that’s probably true, but if you are following people and companies you care about you will be well informed.  Not through the 140 characters, but the link that is included to their website, blog or video.   This is the true value of Twitter, it is a way to generate Buzz and bring people to a controlled content set.

Twitter explained in simple terms:

Twitter search explained in simple terms

Twitter Terms to Know :

Tweet – This is your post on Twitter.  You tweet on Twitter.

Retweet – This is when you share a tweet or one of your tweets is shared.  Sharing a tweet on Twitter is called a Retweet.

Following – These are the people that you have chosen to “Follow” and  you want their tweets to show up on your Timeline (news feed).

Followers – These are the people that have chosen to “Follow” you, and your tweets show on their timelines (news feed).

Twitter Search – The search feature in Twitter is powerful.  This is where the # or hash tags come into play. When people tweet and they want it categorized to show up in a search they use the # before the term or word. For example if I was tweeting about the iPhone 4, I would enter it into my tweet as #iphone4.  This way when someone is searching Twitter for this keyword your tweet will show up in the results.  And then that person can read your tweet, click a link and read more.  If they like your tweet, they may retweet out to their followers. This is where social media is powerful, access to an unlimited amount of people and driving them back to your content, which will be displayed on your blog or website.

Registration URL 

Registration tips – Your user name, aka Handle (yes like a CB) should be your name or company/product name. However, do not be surprised if it is taken already.  So you may have to get creative. Try a few variations of your name, company, etc. For example, add Inc., LLC, MR, or DR.   Once established you will be known as @thatname.

Type of content to make available: Limited to 140 characters.  Twitter is primarily text based with hyper links, however you can share images and videos as well.