"I don't get Twitter." It's a phrase I've been hearing a lot lately. Maybe it's because of my increased activity on Twitter, or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that everyone's been so 'atwitter' about it.  

In either case, I'm talking about Twitter. A lot. I'm talking to those that can't get enough, those that have Twitter yet don't use it very often, and to a lot of non-believers.  I think there's a pretty good concensus among everyone that nobody's quite figured out what Twitter is yet, and that has a lot to do with the fact that Twitter can be a lot of things to a lot of different people.

The one thing Twitter is not is "just Facebook status messages", as some I've run into have oft stated.  So, for those interested in learning more about what Twitter is to me and to some of those around me and in the media, and perhaps for those a little intimidated, confused, or perhaps even scared by the concept, Twitter:

• Twitter is a way for media personalities and politicians to interact in new and exciting ways, often without a filter.
• Twitter is a way for Michael Ian Black to make us laugh.
• Twitter is how Rainn Wilson pointed out one of the most interesting pieces of art I've seen in a long time.
• Twitter can help you get a job.
• Lance Armstrong used Twitter to seek help finding his stolen bike.
• Twitter can let fans get a peak into the lives of athletes. 
• Twitter can let you know when DailyKos or OpenLeft or any of your other favorite blogs (and newspapers) post something new.
• Twitter helps you connect with old friends (and sometimes old fads).
• Twitter helps you take the temperature of a community, for example the progressive community or the conservative community.
• Twitter lets me know when Drupal modules come out and when they're updated.
• Twitter can tell you the weather. Or the score.
• Twitter can help with voting.
• Twitter gives stock tips.
• You might even tweet at the person sitting right next to you.
• At some point along the way, you'll even get sick of hearing about all the things you can do with Twitter.

Twitter is all of these things and more.  Twitter is even not for everyone (although if it's not for you Twitter's CEO might not think highly of you).  

In any case, it's certainly not "just Facebook status messages".

Notify.me is one of the cooler things I've run across on the internet. Notify.me allows you to take any feed and have a text message, IM, email, or message to a desktop app sent to you when that feed has an update.

There are an infinite number of awesome ways to use this, but the one I am most excited about is a fix for what in my opinion is a major flaw with the way twitter does text: You can't receive @replies on your mobile phone.

Notify.me fixes that problem. For me, I set up a search for @BryanBarash, then click the RSS feed for that search, which gives me http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=@bryanbarash. All you need to do is switch out the bryanbarash for your personal twitter username and you'll have your feed.

Once you sign up for Notify.me, you can set up that feed, and thus your @replies, to go to your mobile phone. For an added bonus, the feed sends not just @replies for people who you are following, but will allow you to see if people are @replying to you who you don't happen to follow.

So I've updated the Twitter tab at the top of the page to include a bit more than just my personal twitter feeds. I've now included a section for Progressive Tweets to be aggregated such as those with the hashtag #p2, and one for Drupal Tweets such as those with the hashtag #drupal and #drupalcon.

I know you can find other places that will aggregate that content for you, but in case you don't have a good place to do it, you can check it out every time you stop by my blog. (which you're more than welcome, and encouraged, to do on a regular basis.)

What other hashtags are you using on a regular basis? Please, feel free to make suggestions, both for more aggregated feeds I should be following and for other hashtags or personal feeds you think should be added to the already existing categories.