With Twitter and Tweetdeck, I’m discovering information from my network that I’d never find on my own — or would have to expend significant effort looking for. I’ve learned the following:

1) I’m discovering new things — Twitter helps me find information and provide intelligence that I’d not otherwise see (or would spend forever looking for). For a self-described information hound, it’s not too often that I find a tool that proves absolutely invaluable. Twitter is.

2) I’m closer to my professional community — I feel a type of virtual bond with those in my network and I’m learning from them.

3) It’s the fastest way to gain and share intelligence out there (managing an account is so different from writing a blog. I give 3-4 hours a day to Spend Matters at least. I give a few minutes to Twitter, yet get out far more than I put in).

4) I can use Twitter anywhere

5) It does not require thinking (like blogs) to write since the format is so short; seriously, I can write a tweet in my sleep or before that first cup of coffee (or while talking on a conference call).

6) I’m meeting new people and making contacts that I never knew before who I should have known a long time ago because of how relevant they are to what I do.

7) It’s relevant for our sector — there’s a growing body of procurement and supply chain participants in the Twitter network. And you’ll quickly find them and learn about the ones worth following simply by following others (like me) who often repost other content for those in our network (who you’ll begin to follow yourself if you like what they have to say). This might sound confusing, but you’ll rapidly see what I mean if you try it out.

8) Twitter is flexible. You can drop in and drop out as you please.

9) Twitter is searchable. The search interface in Tweetdeck, for example, let’s you rapidly locate things you’re looking for. I’ve found it a complement to Google in looking for articles and information from sources that I trust.

10) You learn Twitter fast. Very fast. Your first hour, it will seem odd. Perhaps very odd. What does “RT” mean? What does @ imply? The language is unto itself, but it’s extremely easy to pick up.

If you’re sold on Twitter — or just want to give it a try — here’s some basic Twitter advice for you neophytes. First, to make Twitter manageable, sign up for an account and leave the website as quickly as possible. Download Tweetdeck or another client and use it immediately. Don’t even try to use Twitter’s site. Think of Twitter as the underlying platform, the phone network. You must use your own hardware (or software, in this case) to make the calls, otherwise you’ll be stuck with one of those impossible-to-use rotary phones, so to speak. Second, find folks in your network using twitter on a regular basis (e.g., @spendmatters) and follow them first to see what you think before plunging in yourself and writing updates (which is optional, BTW). And follow them through Tweetdeck or another client, or a smartphone client (not on Twitter website) to make it easy to read and aggregate all of your sources.

Good luck. And for all those like me who signed up for Twitter in the past but abandoned their accounts, give it a try again. Things have changed…