( CNN ) -- This Twitter thing has been coming on like gangbusters . The messaging site has been around for a couple of years , but its popularity seems to have exploded just recently . A self-admitted tech geek , Chris Pirillo is president of Lockergnome.com , a blogging network . Everyone from BarackObama to John Cleese to NASA to the consulate of Israel has a Twitter account . Heck , even yours truly does ! Do you ? Follow me and I 'll follow you back . Twitter is really more of a social commons than a full-blown social network like MySpace or Facebook . It pretty much does one thing : allows people to `` tweet '' what they 're up to ( or what they 're thinking about ) in 140 characters or less . Call it micro-blogging , if you will , but it 's about as close to the `` Keep It Simple , Stupid '' ( K.I.S.S . ) ideal as it gets . People can follow your tweets and you can follow theirs -- that 's pretty much it . There are some third-party apps out there that can help you organize and seek out the information flying around out there in the Twittersphere , but it all pretty much stays in the nutshell . With the overwhelming amount of widgets and gadgets and gizmos and doohickeys and whatnots attached to every other social network out there , is n't it nice to be able to get away with plain ol ' simple every now and again ? Since we 're sticking with the `` less is more '' aesthetic , I 'm just going to give you 10 Twitter tips instead of the 20 I could have stretched this into . You 're welcome ! 1 . Be yourself , but beware . Say whatever you feel like saying , but remember that whatever you write could exist in the digital universe forever . Proceed with extreme caution . 2 . Do n't be afraid to interact with others . If you like something they say , reply by clicking the little grey arrow that appears when you hover over one of their tweets . You can also simply type in @ username ( replacing `` username '' with whatever their username happens to be on Twitter ) . This is the formal way to address someone on Twitter . iReport.com : Do you agree with these tips ? Share some of yours . 3 . Follow celebrities . They may never interact with you , but at least you can interact with them . It 's no longer a question of who is on Twitter -- but who IS N'T on Twitter . 4 . Use Twitter from your desktop . Twitter has something called an API ( Application Programming Interface ) , which allows programmers to create experiences around Twitter for the community . Because of this , there have been an amazing array of applications released that will allow you to manage your Twitter account easily . There 's Twitterrific , TweetDeck , and Twhirl -- just to name a few . 5 . Find friends fast . If you 're looking for new friends , a quick search for some of your favorite things on search.twitter.com will quickly reveal who you should be friending on Twitter . Maybe they 'll follow you back ? 6 . Follow government officials . If your elected official is n't on http : //tweetcongress.org , then they 're behind the times . Heck , even the Library of Congress is on Twitter ! 7 . Crowdsource . If you have an idea , or a question , do n't hold it in -- let it be known to all ! Who knows -- someone just may answer your call for help . 8 . Tweetups . Keep your eye out for these things . They 're meetups for people on Twitter , and there 's likely one happening regularly in your neck of the woods . I 've taken to hosting one monthly in the Seattle area , as a matter of fact . Meet Twitter people -- tweeps , tweeple -- in meatspace ! 9 . Retweet . If you like something that someone else has tweeted , you can `` RT '' ( retweet ) it . This gives the original person credit , and also lets your followers know what you like . That 's community ! 10 . Go with the flow . If you think you know better than everybody else , you 're wrong -- the same netiquette rules apply on Twitter as well as on the rest of the Internet . Do you have any Twitter tips to pass along ? You could even share the link to this article on Twitter and it might become the most popular story today !
CNN tech columnist Chris Pirillo offers 10 tips on how to be a good Twitterer . Say whatever you feel , but also remember that it could exist on the Web forever . Crowdsource . If you have an idea , or a question , do n't hold it in -- let it be known ! Keep your eye out for Tweetups , which are meetups for people on Twitter .