Ok, I’ll admit it. I own a web development agency, and I am lucky if I check my Facebook account once a month. I feel ashamed. Because when I do check my page, I find myself being an avid consumer of everyone else’s updates and photos, but then I’m too busy to put anything new up about myself. I’ll toss a photo or two up every month or so, but I enjoy seeing what all my other friends are up to, and where they’ve been. I guess in that way I am quite voyeuristic.

In the micro-blogging world, Twitter has become a competitive environment where I feel challenged to be as creative or funny as many of the people I follow. It’s quicker and easier to contribute. I read tweets from people like Shaquille O’Neal (who is actually really funny!) and it feels so strange that he’s telling me what an NBA superstar is doing in his regular day-to-day life. It feels like I’m being a Peeping Tom, but it’s okay. We’ve all signed up for it. I never rooted for the guy as a basketball player, but I love hearing him chat about random stuff. It’s my glimpse behind the magic curtain.

We’ve begun to advise the majority of our clients to do the same thing: embrace Twitter as a way to give real information to customers in an easy-to-digest format. It’s an easy way to share behind-the-scenes information: stuff that will excite and entice people. So why not jump out there and direct some of the traffic yourself? It only takes 140 characters.