Do you Tweet?

Do you Tweet?

Is it just me or has there been a surge of Twitter popularity recently?

Twitter, as defined in its homepage, is a "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?".
It's a free social networking tool that keeps you and your friends updated in real time. I've had an account for a while now. I use it once in a while. I mostly use it to keep up with happenings in the lives of many of my Filipino digiscrapping friends. They are almost always there. I wish I were in the same time zone as they are because I usually miss all the fun gossip and stories they share. LOL!

Anyway, I understand that celebrities "tweet" a lot - Demi, Ashton, Britney, even President Obama. I'm not particularly interested in knowing what they're doing but I suppose fans get a kick out of it!

What I am interested in is how this is becoming a marketing tool as well. I was just reading in the newspaper today how you could get travel deals by following some travel sites on Twitter. Some airlines and hotels run Twitter-only contests and give away gift certificates, free stay at hotels, etc. Definitely something to look into if you're a bargain-hunting traveler.