I’m always being asked for links to people to follow on Twitter. This is often phrased as “gimme some things to follow, because I don’t understand why I should bother.” So, here you have it - my list of fun Twitter stuff.

First, learn all about twitter here:  A Newbies Guide to Twitter (http://twitter.zappos.com/start ) – this was written by the CEO of Zappos, (who you should also follow http://twitter.com/zappos ) and is still to date the best explanation I’ve seen.

Now that Tony’s taught you all about twitter, add these “people” who I find really entertaining:

Sockamillion http://twitter.com/sockington - Yes, this is a cat. But I think this is easily the funniest “person” on twitter – I adore seeing him update. I think my cats are jealous.

CobraCommander: http://twitter.com/CobraCommander - remember GI Joe?

SARAH http://twitter.com/_S_A_R_A_H_ - Sarah is the house in Eureka (tv show). Gotta love a twittering house.

Whole Foods http://twitter.com/wholefoods - Yummy.

Captain Hammer http://twitter.com/captainhammer - from the singalong blog, of course.

Darth Vader http://twitter.com/darthvader - needs no explanation

I Can Has Cheezburger http://twitter.com/ICHCheezburger - Cat pics, what else!

Donna Noble http://twitter.com/DonnaNoble - not so active these days, damn that amnesia

Martha Jones http://twitter.com/MarthaJones

Southwest Airlines http://twitter.com/SouthwestAir

Stop the Spam http://twitter.com/stopthespam Twitter spammer updates. Always fun to get a new follower update, then see that person reported by Stop the Spam within the same minute.

FreebieAlert http://twitter.com/FreebieAlert

TechInsider http://twitter.com/techinsider rumors, gossip. Not always correct.

The Coop http://twitter.com/andersonscooper FAKE Anderson Cooper.

Anderson Cooper http://twitter.com/andersoncooper REAL Anderson Cooper

Pirate Bay http://twitter.com/tpb News about IP and the internet

El Gato http://twitter.com/el_gato And another cat.

Twitter http://twitter.com/twitter Twitter news, status updates

CNN Breaking News http://twitter.com/cnnbrk

Mars Phoenix Lander http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix - if you were watching this guy a few weeks back, you would have seen the “wee, we found ice!” update. Cutest thing ever.

NASA News Feed http://twitter.com/NASA

For real people…search Twitter for your friends, for celebs, for websites you like - you never know who or what you’re going to find there. Another way to find people to follow is to look at who your friends are following.

You can also reading Twitter easier by hooking up sms or getting a client ( http://twitter.com/downloads or check google to find some, there are TONS).

There ya have it – the basics of twitter. If you do decide to join in on the obsession, leave your twitter name here, or shout out to me so I can follow you - @stephaniebambam. Just remember - 140 characters or less!

Enjoy!

I don’t know how this happened, but some random dude’s avatar is currently the logo on twitter. Harmless, but too funny not to share..

And yeah, my twitter obsession continues…

Earlier today, someone - I can’t remember who, I follow too many people - commented on Twitter (tweeted, I guess) that “Twitter is the gateway drug to blogging.” I wholeheartedly disagree.

Of the many, many messages I sent out on Twitter over the past week, five of them could have easily been blog entries. In fact, at least two of the messages probably would have turned into blog entries, had I not already released the emotions and thoughts around each over Twitter. That’s kind of a shame, the entries would have been interesting. But I truly don’t feel like writing them now. I already did, in very short form.

A blog entry requires actual writing. A somewhat decently written “article” focused around a thought. There is time involved, no matter how short the entry is, which means there is always a time delay from the moment I come up with the thought to the satisfaction of posting the entry. A computer is also required, since I don’t like typing a lot on my blackberry. I used to come up with ideas for blog entries and save them for later. I’d email them to myself at home, scribble them down on a post-it, whatever. These days, instead of saving an idea for a later blog entry, I immediately post it on Twitter.

All you need for Twitter is a phone. There isn’t any real writing or time involved, since the largest a “tweet” can be is 140 characters. I’m able to immediately release the thought, and forget about it. Or watch and see what other people think, which, let’s face it, is what a lot of us do when we’re writing anything we share with the public. I’ve asked questions in this blog - I’m doing it right now. I’ve also done the same over Twitter. We all crave interaction and responses. Why wait until a blog entry can be written when we can instantly get the thought out over Twitter?

I know I’ve been blogging less since I first started using Pownce, then moved to Twitter. For me, Pownce was the gateway drug to Twitter. Twitter’s character limit is truly what did it for me. I can’t think a lot about a tweet, it’s too short. I could blab a bit on Pownce.

We all once said that “push” technology would change the Internet. Pointcast, right? Well, it took a while, but look…it happened. I always have Twitter on, and I’m always checking it. It’s right there, pushed to my screen. From the major to the mundane, the 154 people I’m following on Twitter right now are always talking about something I’m interested in. And believe me, following 154 people is a somewhat small number for Twitter. I get my news from Twitter, even, my coworkers laugh at me for how often I end up saying “I just read on Twitter that….” Who needs a newspaper, when I have CNN Breaking News on Twitter?

To those of you who haven’t discovered Twitter yet, beware. Remember your life before email? One day you’ll remember your life before Twitter. I truly believe the impact will be just as significant. We may not always be using this one service, but the lifestreaming Twitter has created won’t be going away anytime soon. We are genuinely interested in the tiny details of other people’s lives, just like they’re interested in the details of ours. They say everyone’s a voyeur. Do I really need to know that someone is ‘going to get a glass of coke?’ Or someone else is ‘putting the baby to bed?’ Not at all. But I keep following….

Find me on Twitter as @stephaniebambam.