By now everyone has heard of twitter. Celebrities are twittering. Spammers are setting up spam-twitter accounts. Do you remember when blogging was all about your page views and how many people linked to you? Now, in the micro-blog world, it seems to be all about how many Twitter followers you have. But what about the other great micro-blog services that are out there? What about Plurk? What about Tumblr?

Hey, what about Tumblr?

Tumblr is a great micro-blog service. It allows people to post pretty much anything they want as long as they do so succinctly. There isn't a character limit the way there is on…certain other micro-blog services, but the essence of the micro-blog is brevity. At Tumblr, people can post streaming audio, photos, movies, text, quotes…really, if you can figure out a way to upload it to the server or link to its location on the web, you can put it on Tumblr. You can even use Tumblr to chat with other Tumblr users!

Like those other services, Tumblr is available via the internet and cell phone. You can e-mail updates to your Tumblr account or even download a desktop application that will allow you to use Tumblr without requiring an entire browser window.

But the best thing? Is not being limited to one hundred and forty characters. Tumblr offers its users a little bit more leeway than other micro-blog services. Because you are simply encouraged to keep it brief, you do not have to worry about how many times you will have to hit "send" to truly get your point across.

"I chose Tumblr because I never know what is going to inspire me at any given moment" says one Tumblr user. Other aps are okay and all but they won't let me post a song that I just heard on the radio for others to listen to. They won't let me take a video with my cell phone and upload it immediately. With other services I have to put the video somewhere else and then post a link. At Tumblr it's all in one place. It's way easier than any other micro blogging tool I've used." Says one user.

Overall, it is Tumblr's versatility that wins the day. The system is easy to use, and it can do just about anything that a user could ever want an application to do. It helps people keep in touch with each other, entertain each other and educate each other. And it's easily accessible for the "hey, guess what I just ate for lunch!" type of micro-blog user who seems to think that all of his minutiae should be documented in real time.

The Micro-Blog is the new "it" thing. It has taken over where chatting and website building and web comic drawing and blogging have left off. It is the new social networking—heck even social networking sites have micro-blog applications (they call them "status updates")!
 

The Benefits of Using Twitter
As of April 2010, 17 million people (equal to the combined populations of the United States's Connecticut, Oregon, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma) use Twitter, according to a market research survey by Edison Research.

Small Business Owners Discover How To Twitter Their Way To The Top
Jessica Swanson, Founder and President of Shoestring Marketing, Inc., and recently named one of Forbes 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter, is offering a complimentary Twitter webinar on Thursday, April 29.

Small Business Marketing: Twitter - Tips to Make You a Twitter Expert
If you haven't dipped your toe in the water with Twitter, you are missing the boat. Start now! It's the perfect tool for branding, displaying thought leadership, promotion, fund raising, and even lead generation. An odd combination, I know, but if handled correctly, and with proper tweet etiquette (hereafter referred to as TE), all can be accomplished.