tweety

About 6 months ago I was asked by a co-worker "have you ever heard of twitter?" I told him "no" and he introduced to me to the concept of micro-blogging. I thought it sounded pretty cool, combining the status update of facebook with the mobile convenience of texting. I haven't tried the service though since I don't have a phone plan which includes texting [as mentioned in this previous post].
Fast Forward to today where it seems like Twitter is taking over the planet. Everyone is talking about Twitter or tweeting [the act of posting a message to Twitter]. NBA players are tweeting during halftime IN THE GAME THEY ARE PLAYING! (source) Congressmen and Senators were tweeting DURING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS (source). I know that several of you readers tweet and the rest of the internet is taking notice as well. The much maligned recent update to Facebook appears to be a direct response to the Twitter trend.

So what is your take on Twitter? Is micro-blogging the future of social networking and web communication? Does Twitter have a place in the virtual world along side Live Journal, Blogger, Myspace, and Facebook... or will it replace them?