Dismiss Twitter if you must, but don't consider yourself virtuous if you do so. It's the most dynamic and fascinating Internet environment I've had the pleasure of following ever.

This just in from the folks at Twitter:

Monday, June 15, 2009
Down Time Rescheduled
A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation. We chose NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services early last year specifically because of their impeccable history of reliability and global perspective. Today's decision and actions continue to prove why NTT America is such a powerful partner for Twitter.

You can pack a lot into 140 characters. Usually a few words and a link to a blog or an article or to a site with more information or photos. And tinyurl and the other URL-compression sites have come into their own.

There are the usual bottom-feeders who are using bots to set up Twitter accounts and try to push porn. They're conspicuous if you take a look at your "followers" and they're easy to block. Twitter has metrics in place and when too many people block a new user in a short time they take a look then drop them if they're a scam. I also block the bible thumpers and land developers and high school twits who are trying to get as many followers as possible. Usually if you ignore them they'll go away, because, of course, the idea is the follow someone who will follow you back and add to your circle of whatever they're trying to build. That's one kind of silly Twitter use.

For grownups, Twitter is remarkable. I choose who to follow, and though I don't necessarily read every post or blog they refer to, I see what they're engaged in real-time. I've sent a few updates, I have re-tweeted a few messages. Mostly I read.

No one is going to make you join Twitter, and you can use it exactly as you see fit. I don't want only late breaking news, I want thoughtful commentary, I want reminders about what is coming up on a few favorite NPR and PBS programs, and I do have a few folks I follow who are in the stratosphere with followers. Mashable is one you might look in on--he has a keen eye for how a lot of this social networking world is changing. For pure puckish joy in things techno, David Pogue is my man. But I also follow a few writers, a few editorial folks, and a couple of comedians. If keeping tabs on the world doesn't interest you, then follow your friends and neighbors and folksong buddies and your sibs and don't be surprised if the larger digital world doesn't still manage to creep in and grab you by the intellect and imagination.

Tweets out of Iran, it's like text messages out of Sichuan last year--it was the way information was sent out to the world with the least amount of phone battery and the greatest impact. I don't Twitter on my phone, it would be going off all of the time. It's enough to read it on the web. But the idea that someone at a riot in Iran or an explosion in India or a crisis in the U.S. can take a phone photo, send it to their phone online account then send a link via Twitter, that's what is happening in the vacuum left when a big media stopped covering these events with reporters on the ground. You have to sort through it and decide about the veracity of the Anyman reporting, or you can follow others who know more about the region and who do that sorting for you, but it's what is happening today, and it is important. IMPORTANT.

Come on in, the water's fine. But it isn't a simple dip, it's an amazing place out there.

SRS