As I've previously mentioned in my blog, I was definitely underwhelmed when I first heard about Twitter. But on further reflection, I thought that Twitter might be a good tool for use in emergencies or for locating folks at the Nonprofit Technology Conference. But on an everyday basis, it seemed like TMI.

That was 18 months ago. Of course, now I use it all the time.

It's a way to put the word out that I need information or a minor favor - or to assist someone who needs a little something.

Meanwhile, I keeping noting examples of really important ways to use Twitter:

Comparing impressions with folks from all over, during the televised political debates -and not only with my buddies,  but also with some of the more savvy broadcasters at NPR, C-SPAN, and CNN.

Organizing support for journalists who are arrested for covering protests at a political convention.

Documenting problems at polling stations in real time.

While my every day use of Twitter continues to be mundane in comparison to these larger efforts to support civic engagement, I do have one Twitter activity of which I'm proud - creating a Twitter presence on behalf of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. IPPNW now has about 700 Twitter followers, who have opted in because they are interested in engaging with medical professionals on the topic of nuclear and conventional warfare as public health issues. 

It seems like the slogan of the hour in social media circles is "kill your blog."  Some experts think that micro-blogging is the future, and that an organization's message needs to go out in increments of 140 characters (or fewer).  But after a couple of months of working on conveying IPPNW's complex and nuanced message via Twitter, I'd like to report that it's difficult at best, and would be entirely impossible if services such as TinyURL didn't make it easy to embed links in Twitter messages.

So the bottom line of my interim report is that I was far too pessimistic about Twitter's possibilities at the outset, and that it has important potential as a tool for activists and advocates.  Yet it's far too easy to be overly sanguine about the power of short messages.

Don't kill your blog, or your entire web site, just yet.  Ok?